The Outcast Of Remnant
by wraththetyrant12
Summary: A hunter with a semblance of shadow manipulation is forced to choose between what he wants and what his duty tells him to. Follow his journey through the criminal underground and the highs of a mercenary employed by someone in a high seat of power.
1. The outcast of Remnant

**_A/N_****_This fic is a self insert for the RWBY universe. It is also the first story I've written in a very long time so ill take any constructive criticism given. This chapter is a short one, i will attempt to make them longer as I continue writing. Also as some characters may be ooc i will try to keep them in character as much as possible but will change some of them a small bit to fit changes to cannon i may be making. T_****_he first couple of chapters will be short due to me sucking at the start of stories so I ask you all to give it a chance, please. _**

**_cover image by Ren Lyles_**

**_Instagram: renlyles_**

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**_Prologue_**

The scent of rain, anger rising as I lose myself to the darkness. A split-second is all it took for a mess up to ruin my day. Running to her I ready my spear, going for a thrust into her gut to end it, to end it all. Darkness clouds my vision, feeling the cold embrace of the darkness I step into my thrust. Suddenly the world tilts as my body lurches to the side, searing pain in my gut as the darkness clears from me. A puddle is how this life will end, the pain in my stomach grows. A gasp escapes my lips as I fall, I feel darkness wrap around me. Suddenly I'm falling into something hard, I hear a gasp and suddenly two female voices are shouting as I black out. This time a different type of darkness claims me.

"Helllloooo wolfy boy are you upppp" a voice whisper shouts from somewhere in the room I am in, waking me up.

A low groan comes from my throat as my eyes open and are assaulted by a blinding light. A quick look around lets me know I am in an unknown room, a few pictures showing a set of girls one is an older blond the other younger with a dark red almost black head of hair. The most noticeable features of them being a massive chest size on the older and piercing silver eyes on the younger. Both of them being easy on the eyes for my own taste.

"Um hello Remnant to wolfy boy" the voice comes again this time louder as well as closer to me. An edge of irritation starting to sleep through.

I look over and see the older girl from the pictures walking closer to me, a slight twitch of her eyes show her irritation at me not having answered her the first time. Which given the situation I am in, seems rude of her. I mean here I am in a strange new place having woken up from getting my guts almost cut out of me. My eyes widen as I quickly pull my shirt off to look down at my stomach, causing a massive amount of pain to lance through my body. The feeling almost causing me to heave the contents of my stomach onto the floor.

"Well well well if it was THAT type of party I would have taken mine off as well" the blond winks at me before laughing at her own joke. "If your wondering why you aren't dead right now well it seems your aura healed you up nicely. Although it seems your going to be suffering from internal pain for a while." I groan in response and look back up at her, noticing her lavender eyes boring into my own. "Now tell me what is a mercenary like you doing shooting through a portal, into a home with two sweet innocent girls?" The near shit eating grin that graced her face betrayed her teasing nature.

"Well first off can I ask how it is that you know I'm a mercenary?" A slight tilt of her head is all the response I was given for a few minutes before her grin somehow grew even wider. Something about it seemingly familiar to me. "Wait is your father Tai?" The nodding of her head gave me the answer I was looking for.

"Yep he's spoken about you more than a few times in the last few months, mostly complaining how you're taking his spotlight on missions. Speaking of which I should thank you for. But the fact you came barreling through some weird shadow portal and into our kitchen table makes me a bit irritated at you". A flash of red shot through her eyes as she finished walking to the bedside and took her place in front of me. Which gave me a very nice look at her figure. Shaking my head I look back up at her to answer.

"Well sorry about that it wasn't my intention to fall through something but it's kind of hard to control where I'm going when I'm worried about my guts flying out". A shrug from her is all the response I got before she stepped back and held out a hand. Taking it I make to stand up only to fall back onto the bed as pain ran through my stomach once again. "So uh hate to ask this but do you have anything for pain? A cream maybe, i don't do pills."

"Well lucky for you, I sent my sister to get some at the store, although she might spend a little bit longer doing so than she normally would. The sight of your injuries really messed her up...it's her first time seeing injuries like that. She was too young to ever see any of dads or moms."

The mention of her father brought to mind a question, where exactly was he. As far as I knew from local gossip, the man never left his kids alone unless their uncle was around to watch them. Or rather the uncle would sleep and be babysat by the girls, his drunkard ways were infamous in patch. "So where is your dad? I wasn't aware of any bounties posted in town and last I heard any bandits had been ran away by the other hunters actions and some of my own." It seemed I hit a sore subject, if her slight flinch was any indication.

"He is currently of on some month long secret mission type thing with our uncle, oh boy is he going to get a kick out of this when I tell him" her grin takes on a devious tone as she puts her hands behind her back and sways side to side acting in an innocent way. "His daughters playing nurse to a big bad mercenary while daddy is away" she winks as a slight chuckle escapes my lips.

Obviously trying to take this piss out of me I slowly stand up, grunting as the pain comes once again. "Oh really now, if your my nurse then how about a physical" winking back at her I make a move to walk but end up stumbling back onto the bed. "Hey nurse wana help me walk to the bathroom? I gotta take a big pi-"

"Ok that's enough, let's get you up" she cuts off and leans down allowing me to brace on her. "C'mon mama yang will help you. Also, why is your skin still as cold as ice? Earlier I thought it was just due to the shock from your injury but now I'm not so sure, is it some type of semblance thing"

Nodding I brace onto her as we walk to where I assumed the bathroom was, each step as painful as the last. "I have the ability to control shadows, it is a pretty bullshit semblance I've been told." At her questioning look I chuckle softly and continue. "So basically I take shadows and turn them into a physical form, allowing me to make them anything and everything I want to. For instance if I wanted to I could create a sword or a spear and everything in-between. But that's just at the base level. I can do a lot more but that's not something I want to talk about at this moment." A nod from her was the only response from her as we reach a restroom. She walks me inside then starts to walk out allowing me some privacy. Before the door closes fully I let her know I'm going to take a shower to wash some of the blood off myself from the wound.

Stripping down I examine myself in the mirror, aqua eyes looked back out from under a medium length of unruly red hair My gaze travels upwards to the pair of wolf like ears as they twitch from the cold air of the bathroom. "Well time to see exactly how bad this wound is...still I wonder who that girl was and why she wanted to kill me so badly. Guess I've made one to many people mad at me." With a shrug I look down at the cut along my stomach, still decently red showing my aura had yet to finish healing it. in a few days time hopefully itll be healed. Maybe I can shack up here for a while, not like I have anyone at home waiting on me. Plus that woman might know where I live, and I'm in no condition to fight. With a sigh I turn the shower on and make to step in. A sound almost like a sonic boom causes me to stop and look back at the door right as it opens.

"Gotta pee gotta pee gotta- akc naked man!" the second girl from the pictures squawks out and tries to stop as a shower of rose petals blast in from behind her. A blush creeps up her face as she looks up at me with wide eyes then she quickly runs out at a speed even I couldn't keep up with.

"Ruby didn't dad teach you to see if anyone is in the bathroom before super speeding into one" Yang yells from somewhere else in the house before yelling an apology to me. Shaking my head I lock the door back and step back into the shower. Seems as if I'm in for a crazy time, and it seems Tai was right about his crazy daughters. I need to remind myself to buy him a drink next time we are paired up on a bounty or mission. Turning on the hot water to the shower I close my eyes and relax as the hot water washes over me. It seems my next few days will be interesting if these girls are as crazy as I believe.


	2. New friends

**_a/n Sorry for the wait, the last month was a busy one for me. Here is the first full chapter in this story and i hope you all like it. As usual any creative criticism will be greatly appreciated, my grammar is not the best so ill take any help i can get_**

**_cover image by Ren Lyles_**

**_Instagram: renlyles_**

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**Chapter one: New freinds**

A few days after my sudden intrusion to their home, I had started to get used to the craziness that is the Xio Long house hold. My wound had healed up enough for me to get around without one of the girls walking beside me as a crutch. The fact that they even have been helping me was still a surprise to me, when asked about it all they said In response was that it was how they were raised; to help anyone they could. It also seemed as if the girls were getting used to me, although the younger girl still would blush from time to time when she looked at me, no doubt still embarrassed from walking in on me. A fact that her older sister seemed to tease her about whenever she could. "So Ruby, can I ask what this so called secret mission could be about that your father is on?". With a shrug she looks at me from across the kitchen table as her older sister sets a plate of chocolate chip pancakes in front of her.

"The only thing we know is he got a message from some big shot Hunter contractor and then poof he was gone after giving us a crappy explanation as to why". She begins to wolf down the pancakes with the speed of a hungry beowolf, as she wipes her mouth of syrup she turns to the older blond to ask her if she knew.

With another shrug that sent her massive mane of blonde hair waving to and fro. "I have no idea as well, I asked uncle Qrow when he was in town but all he said was that dad was on vacation from us brats". She sets a plate down in front of me and I begin to start eating as she sits down with her own. "Since the local communication tower is still messed up from the storm me and Rubes were thinking about heading into Vale to attempt to contact dad at the CCT tower, do you want to come into town with us Tyler?"

"Yeah I'll tag along, I have to go pick up something at a weaponsmith in town" a sigh escapes my lip as I finish, causing the girls to look at me questioningly.

"Whats up with the sigh wolfy boy?" the older sister, Yang asked me as she starts to clean her plate like her sister had done.

Chuckling softly at the nickname I finish my plate and lean back in the chair and look at each of them. "Well my injury was caused by some chick, someone who I did not know in the slightest". Closing my eyes I think about the fight that happened only a few days ago. I proceed to tell them in as much detail as I could recap of it. I had just accepted a bounty on a low level Grimm that was not supposed to be that rough of a kill. While getting my gear together I noticed my weapon was a bit squeaky when I went to transform it, so I decided to leave it at my weaponsmith so I would make it to my destination in time. A quick bullhead trip later and I'm in Patch to hunt down the Grimm that had been causing problems on the supply roads. Quickly finding my target I had closed my eyes and focused on activating my semblance. Feeling the usual rush of cold air caused by the manipulation of darkness I envision the weapon I'm looking for. Opening my eyes I smirk softly as a dark purple orb forms in my hand before elongating into a five foot long spear with a simple arrowhead at the end of it. After a short battle it begins to storm as I turn around to head back to town. Only to be blocked by a stranger who quickly drew her weapon and rushed at me.

Yang starts to laugh as I finish the story, her sister looking at her with a horrified expression "Yang that's not funny he got really hurt from that woman!!" she chided her sister as I laugh softly at their antics.

"Sorry sorry, it's just how can you slip in a puddle like that!? I mean what kind of luck is that". She wipes the tears that began to form from her laughing as she looks at me. Ruby pouts with a huff and turns to me expecting an answer as well. Geez these girls are even worse than what Tai had told me.

"Crappy luck that's what it is, I don't even understand it myself. It's almost as if fate itself said screw you". I look back at the girls and shrug as I take out my scroll to send a message to my weaponsmith letting her know I'll be in town soon. "So you two want to head Into Vale now or are we going to sit here laughing at me?"

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The trip to Vale by bullhead went without any more of the girls antics which was to my relief. After a few days and nights of them, I wondered how exactly their father could manage to stay sane living with them for so long. Feeling my scroll buzz I pull it out and after seeing a message from my weapon smith, I respond letting her know I just touched down and would be at her shop momentarily. Waving goodbye to the sisters as they headed to the CCT tower I make my way to my destination. A short walk later, and I am in front of a small gray painted shop with a sword and shield emblem painted on the front above a neon sign with the words "Cindy's blades". Walking in I wince at the high-pitched ding that rang out from above the door, I rub my wolf ears softly as I look at the woman behind the counter. "Hey Cindy what's up?" I look her up and down giving her a sly grin as she waves at me. Cindy was a woman considered by any who sees her to be a short stack, her height being somewhere around the 5'3. Her long blond hair tied up in a large bun on top of her head, bright green eyes seem to sparkle as she regards me.

"If it ain't my favorite faunus customer, come to pick up the beauty that is your weapon?" a grin grows on her face as she walks from behind the counter to shake my hand, her grip as strong as an ursa's.

"Yeah if it's ready that is, I know the maintenance for it probably wasn't bad after all"

With a sly smirk she punches my gut softly and grins up at me, which looked adorable seeing as how I am a good few inches taller than her. "Nah it wasn't bad I'm done with her now, speaking of her when are you going to name her. You know that's what makes a hunter right?" she chuckles softly when I shrug, her smirk growing bigger as the bell rings above the door. With a wince of my wolf ears I turn around to see who it is as Cindy greets the new customer "well lookie here, just the person I was hoping for. C'mon over here I want you to meet someone. His semblance is basically your weapon!!" with an excited tone she grabs the new customer by her hand and pulls her over to me.

"O-oh cindyyy I thought I asked you not to pull me like that!" with a laugh Cindy pushes the girl to me and walks to her backroom whistling in an all to innocent manner. "H-hello there my name's Velv- OH you're a faunus like me!" I look down at the girl and regard her fully, firstly noticing the large rabbit ears atop a head of long gorgeous brown hair, her large brown eyes looking up at me with a slight sparkle to them, causing heat to rise to my cheeks. Oh, dust help me she is beautiful. Looking down I notice her outfit being a simple brown tracksuit that fit snugly onto her body, allowing me to see a slightly athletic build beneath.

"Sorry about Cindy she's a character. And yes I'm a wolf faunus" I wiggle My wolf ears slightly as I speak to emphasize the point. "I am surprised to see another faunus at her shop though since normally this area is full of racist assholes" I say as I look back up at her face I notice a slight blush starting to form on her cheeks. Had she seen my blush possibly? Well too late to take it back now I suppose.

"Yes I've noticed how she is…as for the other part, me being at this part of town well…Cindy is the only one who could build my weapon as I wanted. I usually come with my team to back me up but…" her words trail off as her ears droop, and she grabs one arm with the other behind her. Sensing her reluctance to talk about it, I decided to change the subject.

"Your team? You must be a student at Beacon then, what year are you in?" asking her the question proved a good distraction as she quickly fumbles in her pocket to bring out her scroll. She holds it out to me showing a student hunter I.D with her picture and other Information on it.

"Velvet Scarlatina, I'll be a second year when school starts back up for the year. My semblance is Photographic memory, it allows me to mimic others fighting styles and weapons in combat." The faunus girl tilts her head as if thinking for a second, her rabbit ears tilting just the same in an action almost to adorable for myself to handle. "Wait what did she mean when she said your semblance is like my weapon?". Her eyes widen as she finishes speaking "I-if you don't mind telling me that is, I know a lot of people like keeping it secret". Not being able to help myself I reach out and muss her hair, causing her to blush an incredible shade of red.

"Don't worry it's okay, I don't mind telling you. My semblance is the manipulation of shadows, it allows me to do plenty of things such as making weapons from the shadows; think of it like hard light constructs in a way." Her eyes widen again, and she steps a tiny bit closer with a sparkle in her eyes once more.

"My weapon makes hard light constructs of whatever I take a picture of with it…" her words taper off as she notices how close she got to me, backing up with a blush she goes to speak before a door at the back opens up. Cindy walks out holding a black box with gold trim in one hand and a black metal gauntlet in the other.

"Well here we go, weapons piping hot out the oven" the small woman laughed at her own joke before tossing the gauntlet to me, my eyes looking over it carefully to see if Cindy had added anything as she was prone to do.

"So how much do I owe you for this one?" I ask her as I slide the gauntlet onto my right hand, it's base stopping halfway up my forearm. Turning it I look it over even more, starting at the finger tips I noticed that she had sharpened them even more than I had; which wasn't a bad thing really since it could help fighting the grim. Continuing down I look at the thin metal that was wrapped from the wrist down to the base of the gauntlet, a white line seemed to be in the center of the wrap. Frowning I look at Cindy questioningly "What did you add to it?"

Having the decency to look sheepish the shortest woman looks at me "I added a flexible colorless dust core in the wrapping. I'm sure you can figure out what to do with it".

Sighing I shake my head and begin to walk out the door "nice meeting you velvet, and Cindy you still have my card on file so go ahead and charge it".

"Hey wait- uh…can I get your scroll number? I uh…want to see your semblance in action. It might help me with my own fighting style the rabbit faunus blushes softly with shyness as she walks closer handing me her scroll to exchange numbers. After giving her my number I notice Cindy wearing a neat shit eating grin as she winks at me and walks back to the register.

"Right now I'm staying in Patch with some friends, so let me know if you want to hang out and train some, although I'm healing from an injury so my aura isn't as strong as it normally is."

Her seemingly near permanent blush deepens some as she nods softly, her rabbit ears bouncing softly as she does. "I will, let you know- Oh Wait I didn't ask your name!"

"The names Tyler, see you around Velvet." Walking out, I pull out my scroll to see where Yang and Ruby wanted to meet up. Seeing that they wanted to meet up at the CCT tower I start heading to it.

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As I walk close to the tower I see Ruby and Yang coming out, waving them over I notice the look on Yang's face as she looks at me. " Hey what's wrong?"

Yang sighs softly before looking down at her feet, her eyes burning crimson for a second before Ruby puts her hand on her back soothingly "We ended up learning exactly what our dad is up to and well ill just say that it isn't something that we were expecting from him". She pulls away from Ruby and looks back up to me "He also said we need to be careful around you, care to tell us what he means by this" glaring at me her hair starts to glow, a sign I have came to associate with her semblance activating.

"Yang calm down Tyler hasn't done anything to us, so he shouldn't be all that bad….right?" the little redhead looks at me questioningly.

"Well he more than likely is saying that due to the nature of my semblance since I control shadows, many people think it is a power that comes from the darkness that creates the Grimm. Which they may be right, there are still things I need to learn about my semblance ". Looking into Yang's eyes I hold my hand out to her "You can trust me, I have no intention of doing anything to hurt either of you. And if you or your father would rather me leave your home I will do so, I can shack up in a motel or something as I usually do.

Ruby looks at her sister with a small look of sadness, her mouth seeming to attempt to form words but failing to do so. With a sigh Yang shakes my hand and nods softly to her younger sister "well dad also said he trusts you, seeing as how you have saved his ass apparently on one mission. He also said it makes him feel better about leaving us alone if someone was there that can fight."

"Does that mean he can stay?!" the sudden shout from Ruby makes me chuckle as Yang nods. It seems that the little redhead gets attached to people quickly. She quickly hugs me before looking at her sister, proving my assumption not a moment later.

"So what was is Tai up to?" I asked the sisters, hoping to shift the subject away from me.

A low growl escapes Yang's lips as she closes her eyes before opening her mouth to speak, but it is Ruby who answers "he is looking for our mother. He told us someone who looked like her was seen out near Atlas and well…he took off like the hot headed man he is."

A long sigh escapes the blondes lips before she shakes her head "lets head back home I need a long hot shower to get my mind clear of all this stuff".

As Yang goes to walk away I start to follow her before I feel a weight settle onto my arm, looking down I see Ruby looking at the gauntlet on my right hand. With stars in her eyes she makes to ask about my weapon before I put a finger to her mouth "wait till we get home, then ill answer your question about my weapon." With a pout that could melt the heart of anyone who saw it, she let go and proceeded to grumble as we walked to the airfield, so we could get a bullhead back to Patch.


	3. Training Begins

**_a/n well here we go, the next chapter of The Outcast Of Remnant. As always let me know what you think of it and any ways i can improve my writing. _**

**_cover image by Ren Lyles_**

**_Instagram: renlyles_**

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**Chapter Two: Training Begins**

The ride back to patch was an awkward one, Yang uncharacteristically silent as her younger sister tries to get her to talk. Each new attempt failing which only caused Ruby to pout more and more, which normally I would find cute but given the situation I decided to not comment on it. After we landed Yang made the situation worse by telling us to head on home without her she needed some "yang time"

As she walks off Ruby looks up to me with a sigh before face planting softly onto my chest "hey Tyler you're an adult right?"

I muss her hair softly and chuckle to myself "well considering I am twenty I would hope that I am an adult. Otherwise I have some questions that need answered"

With a snort she looks up at me and steps back before a sigh escapes her lips "will she be okay?...".

"Well she needs to think some I'd imagine. I don't know the full story, but I have heard some of what happened between your father and mothers". With a solemn nod the little red head starts to head down the road that lead to their home

"C'mon lets get going, you can tell me about your weapon. Speaking of, what is its name of it?".

"well I don't have a name for it, I am not a hunter remember, naming a weapon is usually a hunter" my words trail off as I notice the expression on Ruby's face "what did I say something wrong"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVENT NAMED IT!!" she quickly gets in front of me with a storm of roses falling around her, letting me know she had used her semblance to do so.

"Well like I was trying to say, I am not a hunter I am a mercenary. Meaning that I have never been officially trained by any combat school or any trained huntsmen. Everything I know I taught myself". I hold my right arm out, allowing her to look at my gauntlet. A pout starts to form on her face making her look like a puppy that had lost its favorite toy.

"But still a weapon is an extension of its owner, naming it gives it its own personality and makes the hunt-I mean mercenary in this case". Grabbing my gauntlet she pulls it off my hand before dropping it with a small squawk. "How is it so heavy? What is it made of?" she watches me as I pick up the gauntlet with ease, putting it back on my hand and flexing the fingers.

"See it does have its own personality, only I can pick it up. As for what its made of…well me and Cindy, my weapon smith, made it with a technique we developed using my semblance". Seeing the confused look on her face I begin to explain my semblance in detail. "So remember when I said that people are afraid that my semblance comes from the darkness that creates the Grimm?". At her nod I continue on "well they would be somewhat right, at least from what I've been able to tell. I've had my semblance since I was born basically, so I've been able to learn and I even evolved it when I was ten. Needless to say I have learned a lot about this power of mine." Noticing that she had slowed her steps some I look back and see her looking at me with a quizzical look upon her face, which made her look like she was a puppy learning something new "What is it Ruby?"

With a frown she walks up and looks me up and down, not noticing how close she was to me "You don't look like a Grimm?" with that she pokes my stomach, causing me to wince with the pain still there from my healing injury. "And your blood was red, with the amount you lost..." her face grows pale as if she is about to be sick.

"Hey hey don't go throwing up on me now, lets just keep going and ill explain it better" the little red head nods and walks alongside me again as we make our way to her home once again. "Now back to what I was saying, I have learned many things about my semblance. One of these things being that if I focus my aura into the shadows I create, it can affect things around me in different ways. For instance if I send it into a dust crystal, I can corrupt the crystal for lack of a better word. This caused the crystal to become black in nature which makes its effects stronger. If I used it on blue dust the freezing power of the crystal would be even stronger and the ice it made would be black ice instead of the normal blue ice."

With a gasp ruby looks at me with stars in her eyes "you mean that you can make any type of dust stronger…I could find so many uses for that in my weapon" before she continues I put my finger to her mouth to stop her, knowing well her love of weapons.

"while yes I can do that, it is not all that safe. The dust becomes even more volatile and I don't think I need to tell you what that means. But anyway we got off track, since I am able to corrupt things like that I have figured out my semblance is basically an evil one" sighing inwardly I decide to leave out the worst part of my semblance since it could make her afraid of me.

"So how does all that come into your weapon?" she tilts her head as she ask, a finger to her chin.

"Well as a mercenary I have certain…connections one of which allowed me to get a large chunk of a pure uncut white dust crystal" Ruby opens her mouth to speak but I cut her off. "White dust increases the affect of someone's aura" with a snap her mouth closes allowing me to continue on "with that in mind I turned the crystal into a pure black crystal, which we then ground into dust and melted the dust into the metal that was used to make my weapon. This had an affect that caused the weapon to only respond to my aura, if anyone besides me holds it the weapon increases its weight. As to exactly how it does this…well even me and Cindy do not know. We had only set out to make a weapon that would help me control my semblance."

"Does it do that?"

"yes it does, the white dust had its affect amplified when I turned it black. So now when I use my semblance with the gauntlet on, whatever I create is stronger and uses less of my aura to do so". Looking ahead I see my temporary home come into view "and it looks like we are here little red, so how about we talk about this later? All this walking has made my stomach start to act up and the fact someone poked it does not help it." With the decency to look sheepish she nods before rocketing off with a blast of roses towards the home. I wonder how her dad deals with her speed, hell how can he deal with a speedy daughter on top of a time bomb of a daughter. At the thought of Yang I begin to wonder when she will be back, mostly for Ruby's sake and for some of my own interest. Since these girls have been taking care of me I feel the need to do the same for them. You are lying to yourself. You are only using them. With a sigh I shake my head at the voice inside my head, a voice that comes from the darkness of my semblance I had not wanted to tell the little hunter in training. Sighing again I start to head into the home so I could rest in my borrowed room.

A knock comes from my door a few hours later, after saying come in I look up at Ruby who was wearing a sour expression. "Let me guess is it Yang?"

Nodding she looks at me frowning softly as she sits beside me " she has never been gone this long, can you go look for her?...i would but I need to stay here incase she comes home"

Reaching out I mussed her hair softy, causing a pout to form on her cheeks "Yeah ill go look for her, I have a good idea where she is." with a nod from her I make to the door. Now considering she had said she was looking for a drink, there is only one place in town for her to go to. After looking up to the setting sun I sigh softly to myself wondering if this was going to end well considering how temperamental she can be sober, a drunk her could be even worse. "Damn this is going to suck a major amount of ass" cursing aloud I begin to make my way into town on foot.

An old bar enters my vision, its dull neon lights letting all know its name "the broken patch, ah such an original name. now time to see if the yellow bombshell is in her-" my words are cut off at the scream of a man being threw through the door of the bar. "yep id say she is here" sighing to myself I walk inside readying myself for anything

"And that's what you get for slapping my ass like th- oh heyyy wolfy boy. What are you doin here" the slurred voice of yang greets me as I walk in, she walks or rather stumbles to me and falls into my chest. "ooh you are as muscled as I thought~ how about you treat me to a good time". She laughs huskily before tracing my chest softly. The action doing some interesting things in my mind, but no I cant do that it would only cause problems in the future.

"No im here to take you home, your sister is worried about you" with a groan from the drunken blond I lift her over my shoulder, a small lance of pain goes through my stomach at the action. I hope this heals soon, im tired of this pain. "Hey barkeep just put her drinks on my tab, you know im good for it" with a thumbs up from the barkeeper I begin to walk out the door carrying the now passed out with a drunken Yang. "Damn yang how are you this heavy, must come from your boobs" the girl snorting in her sleep was my only response. "well now lets get you home girly".

As the house comes into view I notice Ruby running to me using her semblance. "you found her thank you Tyler thank you so much!! Uh I guess you can put her into her room since shes asleep" Ruby pokes her sisters nose while she speaks, causing a giggle to escape her lips

"okay I will, then I am ready to sleep the night away." We walk into the house and I carry yang up into her room. Feeling hands grip my ass roughly I gasp loudly and throw yang across the room into her bed, her laughs echoing loudly as I do

"haha that was fun lets do it again, nice ass by the way wolfy boy" her lips curl up into a smirk before she winks and proceeds to take her shirt off. With that I back out of the room and close the door turning to the red faced little sister who was staring dumbfounded at the door.

"is she always like that when she is drunk?" I ask her before staring to head to my temporary room.

With a nod Ruby sighs before closing her eyes no doudt trying to erase the image from her mind "yeah she gets…strippy when she is drunk. Although she never has done that with anyone around her that wasn't someone close to her". With a beaming grin she looks up at me "I guess this means she does like you more than she lets on". Feeling my lips curl up softly I walk into my room before answering her

"well for what its worth, I am growing fond of you two, and I will stay here for a bit longer. Its not like I have a home to go to or anything like that".

Her eyes turn curious as she tilts her head from side to side, looking like a puppy trying to figure out what to do. "what do you mean you do not have a home?"

"well being a mercenary means I travel all over the four kingdoms, so im never usually in one place for more than a few months at a time. If I had a home of my own it would be neglected most of the time". Her mouth opens in an oh shape before she nods and starts to walk to her room which was beside my own.

"well see you in the morning, goodnight tyler"

"good night little red" with a beaming smile she closes her door as I close my own to get ready for bed. Take her and break the trust of the little flower. "why don't you shut the hell up?" I ask the voice, silence being my only response. Mumbling to myself I pull my shirt off and look at the wound on my stomach "well since your back I guess my aura has done all it wanted to for the internal damage". With a grumble to myself I lay on the bed, wondering about the voice. It had been with me for as long as I can remember, the one thing I hate about my semblance. The one part that makes me think that my semblance comes from darkness, a memory flashes in my mind.

A young ten year old boy kneels over the body of a deer, blood soaking his hands as they tear into the meat of the freshly slain animal. With a twitch of the wolf ears atop his head, he starts to run on all fours to the source of the sound that had caught his interest. A young fawn bleats as a hand covered in darkness slashes through its neck, causing blood to spray onto the boy. Yes more, feed me more. Let your emotions out. Let the darkness flow into you and take you over. A growl escapes the boys throat as anger seeks out of him directed at the voice that had been causing him to follow his more animal instincts. Voices surround him as two people come into his vision. A man and a woman scream a name that sounds familiar to the boy, the name making his anger grow as he runs at the pair. Darkness covers the boy making him look as if he was made of pure shadows, the woman of the pair screams as the man grabs the boy.

With a gasp I open my eyes at the memory turned dream, just when had I fallen asleep? With a groan I start to raise up before feeling a weight on my chest, looking down I see a black and white ball of fur "ah hello there Zwei, I was wondering where you were" with a yawn the corgi looks up at me before laying its head back onto my chest. The little corgi was the family pet of the household and it had seemingly taken a liking to me almost automatically, which I had chalked up to my wolf blood making the dog feel like it had found another of its kind. Tonight was gong to be a long night of darkness fueled dreams it seems, patting the little dogs head I close my eyes to try and fall back asleep.

The sound of light breathing wakes me up from a nightmare filled slumber, groaning I look around to see what the source of the sound was. Looking down I notice the little red flower cuddled up to my side, her face in a comfortable slumber. This had become a regular occurrence from the girl, while she slept she would often sleep walk into her fathers room to cuddle up to him. Since I was using his room this had caused some interesting mornings in the house, more than often Yang would take pictures to use as blackmail before taking her sister back into her room. But this morning it seemed that the blonde was still asleep, more than likely a result from her drunken state of last night. "hey, Ruby wake up I need to get up" I tell her attempting to wake her up. A small grumble and an increased hold onto my right arm was the response. Thinking of a way to wake her up I smirk softly to myself as I flick her nose hard, causing the girl to snap awake her silver eyes look up at me with a wide stare. As her brain wakes up a blush forms on her cheek before she jumps back and onto the floor.

"aheheh um…hi" she says shyly as she looks down to the floor, her blush now matching her hair.

With a laugh I look back at her noticing how adorable she was at the moment "hello there little sleep walker, were you comfy?" her mouth opens to respond but she quickly closes it, choosing to slowly creep to the door before shooting out of it using her semblance. "well that was entertaining, I guess ill get breakfast started" another common thing of staying in this house was for me to cook some type of breakfast, to me it was the least I could do considering they are letting me stay there. Looking around the refrigerator I decided to start cooking some bacon and eggs. As the meal starts to smell up the house a groan catches my ears as Yang walks into the kitchen.

"ugh what happened last night, how did I end up here? Oh hey wolfy what are you cooking" with a hungry lick of her lips she reaches for a piece of bacon but a slap to her wrist stops her before she can. "hey! Whats that for?" with a grin I thump her head softly before responding

"Wait till its all done, you know my rules. Also you might want to go get your sister, she is in her room possibly embarrassed beyond what her tiny self can take" with a nod she starts to walk to her sisters room before looking back at me with a question on her lips.

"Wait why would she be embarrassed?"

"Well since little old you was asleep from her drunk self, she found out what she does in her sleep while she sleep walks".

"Oh boy time for mama Yang to have some fun" with a shit eating grin she barges into her sisters room, causing the little flower to squeak in surprise.

Laughing to myself softly I finish up the breakfast as the girls argue for a few minutes before Yang ends up placing down Ruby into a chair. "Well here is our resident sleep cuddler in the flesh"

"Yang!!" Ruby squawks out before covering her face in her hood as I slide a plate along the table to her and her sister.

As we start to dig in I feel a buzzing from my pocket, pulling out my scroll I read over a text from an unknown number "hey Tyler, this is tyler right? I hope it is. Um this is velvet the girl you met at Cindys yesterday. I was wondering if you would like to hang out today. Each of my team members have their own things planned so I am bored. Oh please let this be the right number". Laughing softly to myself I respond telling her I am free if she wants to come down to patch, after giving her the address I slide my scroll back into my pocket. "well two things, one it seems the local tower is up and two would it be okay if a friend comes over? I met her yesterday and she wants to hang out"

The shine in Ruby's eyes gives me her answer before her voice does "yes if she is nice I would like to meet a new friend. Come on Yang say yes pleasssseeee" she begins to shake her sisters arm roughly before Yang nods and looks at me with her signature shit eating grin.

"No adult fun I hope, we don't need any wolf puppies running around here now do we. Especially since me and Rubes here are gong out back to Vale, our uncle Qrow is back in town".

Shaking my head I look over at them and notice Ruby looking at me with a thoughtful expression "no that is not possible, any children I have would be a faunus like me, not an animal" she nods and goes back to eating her food. This girl is really to innocent for the line of work she is wanting to go into. "And I imagine she is going to want to train some, she has a weapon that is essentially a watered down version of my semblance. I told her I would help her with it since ive basically had her weapon all my life"

At the mention of a possibly new weapon Ruby shoots up and over to me, leaning in close before speaking "oh oh oh tell me about it please Tyler please" she pouts as I push her away shutting her down before she ends up speaking about a weapon for hours like she is known to do.

"No if you two are back before she leaves then I will let her tell you about it, besides from what I can tell she I the shy type of person"

"Oh fine then…hmpf cmon sis lets go, Tyler is being a meanie " with this yang laughs and scarfs down the rest of her plate before her and Ruby make to the door.

"hey sis we can ride on my motorcycle, bumblebee if you want to" the excited shriek from the red head could be heard all the way to the shed where I imagined the motorcycle to be stored. Ill need to make sure and ask Yang about her bike later, after all I always have had an interest in them myself. It took only a few seconds for the sound of an engine revving up to let me know they had left for the town.

About an hour later I get a text from the little rabbit telling me she just got into Patch and was on her way over to the address I had given her, which was the start of the road that leads to the Xio-Long household. "well guess I better head out to meet her, otherwise she might get lost in the woods and meet a big bad wolf" laughing at my own joke I start walking out the door, locking it as I do. Within a half hour I see a pair of large bunny ears looking around nervously as Velvet comes into sight. Seeing me she walks over quickly, almost as if she was hopping over to me

"h-hey there Tyler, I didn't know that there were any woods like this in Patch. The last I heard it was mostly fields and the like" tilting her head she looks at me, which caused her ears to droop to one side in a look that made her seem even more adorable than she already was.

"That is true for the northern parts of Patch but this part is a dense forest with only one home inside it. That home being where we are heading to, I have been staying there for about a week now recovering from an injury I had on a mission."

"Oh! A mission, are you a hunter?"

"No im not that lucky, im actually a mercenary for hire. The last mission turned into a situation that went south and resulted in an injury I am still healing from" I rub my stomach softly where the wound was. It had healed almost completely, the only pain being if I hit it hard with something. My aura had always healed my injuries faster than most with it unlocked which I had attributed to my semblance.

"If your injured are you sure you are up to this? I mean if not its fine I can train another way" Velvet starts to look around nervously before settling on looking at me.

"No no im fine, it is just about fully healed so I am down for some light training, have you ever trained with your weapon or?"

A blush I could only call embarrassing creeps on her face as she looks down shyly kicking her feet in the dust "actually this would be the first time I have even used it. It has taken all this summer to build it, and all of my student earnings from my first year to finance it. It is a complicated one after all"

We spend the next couple of minutes making small talk as we mad our way to the house. She told me about her team, named CVFY and about what missions she hoped to take as a second year in Beacon. At her questioning of what a mercenary was, I told her about how rough it could be but how the pay was good to me. I had left out some of the more morally grey jobs that also came with the territory, it seemed best to let her find out about that on her own. As the house came into view a sudden ball of fur comes shooting out from the door and into velvet, knocking her down. With a gasp of a surprise she looks at the ball of fur before seeing the face of Zwei panting on her chest. When he notices Velvets wide eyed stare he starts to lick her with the ferocity of an ursa major.

With her heavily accented voice she manages to gasp out between licks "oh hello there little guy, is he yours Tyler" she laughs as she starts to stand up. Zwei nestles himself into her arms as she looks up at me. The sight brought a small blush to my cheeks at how adorable it was.

Coughing into my hand to hide my blush I answer her "actually little old Zwei here is the pet of the owners of this house. He just so happens to have taken a shine to me. Isn't that right boy". With a bark Zwei jumps into my arms before quickly falling asleep. "See told you so, the girls who live here told me he was supposed to be a hunters dog but he failed training…probably due to him being so loveable." I look over to her and notice her staring at me with a blush that matched the color of my own hair. "Um are you okay Velvet?"

She quickly looks away and starts to skip ahead of me, trying to hide her embarrassment at having been caught. "Oh nothing um he is just so adorable". With a nervous chuckle she looks back at the house before looking back at me. "So shall we go into the backyard to train or do you have something else in mind?"

Setting the dog down on the ground despite his bark of irritation I start to walk to the backyard. "the backyard has a few training dummies we can warm up on, so mind telling me more about your weapon so I can get a better idea of how to help you out". She begins to tell me how her weapon, named Anesidora worked. The weapon had two forms it could switch to; a camera form and a compact box form that allowed her to create hard light copies of weapons that she had taken a picture of with the camera mode. The copies she created were almost as powerful as the real thing, the only caveat being dust based weapons being only half as effective. Another downside is she had to take a picture of a weapon she wanted to copy, a picture which was destroyed after a copy had been made of it. "So have you taken a picture of any weapons yet?" I ask the little rabbit which she nods and tells me she had taken a picture of her teammates weapons and a few other weapons she had seen around the city.

"Alright lets get to it then, pick a weapon and get into a fighting stance, ill see how you stand In combat. Although I feel like you will be how I am, a jack of all trades master of few type. Am I right?"

She shakes her head with a grin on her face "actually nope im a master of all due to my semblance, it allows me to copy the moves of anyone I see fight. So basically if I see someone fight I can be a master of that weapon they used". She grins wider when I look at her with wide eyes.

"Now that is just cheating, I've had to work and train with the weapons I create, and here you are able to use any of them at will". With a sigh I signal her to stay where she is as I walk ahead of her a few feet. Turning to face her I hold out my right hand, activating my semblance. My gauntlet takes on a dark purple hue as shadows form around in the palm of it, closing my eyes I focus on the image of the weapon I want to create. The shadow begins to form into a simple longsword with a double bladed edge, looking at her I hold the blade in a loose frontal guard "alright your turn little rabbit".

Blushing at the nickname she shakes her head before pressing a button on her weapon strapped to her side "well get ready big bad wolf, here I come" she holds her right arm straight out beside her. After a short moment lines of hard light dust start to shoot out of it and into her hand, forming the outline of a massive great sword in her right hand. The edge of the great sword curved upward into a nasty hook shape at the tip of it which was no doubt useful in a fight against grim but I was already planning on how to exploit it. The weapon finishes forming in her hand and she starts to run at me, dragging the weapon behind her. With a smirk I tighten my stance knowing this fight will end up being a good one.


	4. A New Venture

**_a/n well here is the next chapter, sorry for the long wait. I had irl things going on as well as getting a new computer to write on, if you are enjoying it so far or have any tips let me know_**

**_cover image by Ren Lyles_**

**_Instagram: renlyles_**

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**Chapter Three: A New Venture**

It did not take long for the training to end, within a few seconds the little rabbit was lying in her back panting with a broken aura. Walking over to her I squat down beside her and poke her stomach softly to see if she was hurt anywhere. A soft groan was the only response I got. Laughing softly to myself I hold my hand out to pick her up, which she takes allowing me to easily pick her up off the ground. "So it seems as if we found the first problem of your new weapon, it takes too much of your aura with each copy you make. You will either need to learn to control the amount of aura you give your weapon to function or change something in the weapon itself."

With a nod and a soft pout, Velvet looks up at me with her mouth open to speak but is cut off by a ring coming from her back pocket. Quickly pulling out her scroll she answers the call "oh hello coc- oh yes I'm fine, I was training with someone. What yes he's a bo- noo it's not like that at all!! Yes, I'm sure it isn't. I'll be fine don't worry at all. Yes, it's the boy I told you about, hey wait!" the scroll blanks out signaling the end of the call, from the redness of her cheeks I could tell that the conversation had been a somewhat embarrassing one for her. She looks over at me, her cheeks reddening as she notices my questioning look."...sorry about that, that was my team leader, she got an alert that my aura dropped in the red and thought something had happened I kind of forgot to tell her that I was training today". A nervous chuckle escapes her as she slides her scroll back into her pocket.

"Well are you up for any more training or do you need to rest and let your aura go back into the green. If you are not up for it I'm sure the girls would not mind if I cooked something for us"

Tilting her head back and forth she thinks about it, a move that caused her bunny ears to sway in motion. The sight of it looking cute in my eyes. After a moment she nods and walks up to me with her hands behind her back "I am kind of hungry, and you know how to cook?".

"I have had to cook for myself for most of my life, mostly just campfire recipes from when I am out on a mission. But the few times I have had a temporary home I learned some basic meals"

"What do you mean by a temporary home?"

"The life of a mercenary takes me all over the kingdoms, so having a permanent home is never a priority for me. Hell, the longest I can recall staying in one place is around six months, and that was only due to my contractor paying for extended protection of my charge at the time." I walk into the house and motion her inside with a wave.

"Ah that makes sense I guess...is it the same way for a hunter I wonder?" she looks up in contemplation as we walk into the kitchen.

"Well not exactly, hunters usually take jobs close to home more often than the jobs that are out of the way. Us mercenaries usually take those due to the better hazard pay, we are more expendable in the eyes of the people after all". I look in the fridge and take out the ingredients to make a salad for us to eat.

"What is the difference between the two? They never have talked about mercenaries at the combat school or during my first year at beacon".

I think about what to answer for a few minutes as I begin to finish up the salad "well I would say the biggest difference would be that mercenaries are never trained to do the jobs that they do and they have no allegiance to any kingdom." I pull out my scroll and press a button on the side of it to show it to her. The license had the basic information any license would have with the addition of the words official mercenary guild member as well as my ranking in the guild, which was one of the highest possible in the guild.

"Ohh I see now, so you can go anywhere and take any jobs without having to bother about any of the kingdom politics". A look of confusion crosses her face before she asks " so why did you not become a hunter?". Her eyes light up as I sit a large bowl of salad in front of her, she begins to munch away happily as I think about her question

"Long story short as a child there was an accident in my village that caused it to be abandoned as well as made me an orphan. From there I grew up on my own and made my way into the job I have now". With a nod, she hands me her plate as if she is asking for more, a move that made her look like an adorable child.

Her smile grows even more with the second plate I give her, vegetables are a plus to her it would seem. Quickly finishing her second plate she stands up and pumps her fist in the air slightly "well are you ready for round two, I'm pumped and ready to go". Flashing me a grin she begins to walk out the door and into the yard motioning for me to follow her. Meeting her in the yard I go to speak before my scroll rings, looking down I see a message from Yang asking me to meet her and her sister at Vale.

"Well, it will have to be another time little rabbit, seems I have business in Vale. shall we walk back to the Patch airfield together?" I notice a blush spread on her face as she nods. We begin the walk back to town, talking about ways she can help with the aura drain from her weapon.

About an hour later I waved goodbye to her as we went our separate ways, shooting a text to Yang I let her know that I am on my way to the address she sent me. A short walk later and I am in front of a small cafe, catching sight of the sisters I walk over to them. "So what are we doing here?" I ask the older one as the little one wraps around me in a hug.

"Well our uncle is in town and he wanted to meet us here to talk about a few things and to as he put it, try and drink you under the table after the meeting," the blonde bomber tells me as she attempts to pull Ruby off of me. The little redhead reluctantly lets go of me before she pouts and starts to walk inside. Her sister laughs softly before looking at me "it is kind of funny, your a total stranger basically to me and her considering we have only heard stories about you from dad and uncle Qrow, but here she is acting like you mean the world to her".

I pat her on the head much to her displeasure due to having her hair messed with, she punches my arm away as I speak my thoughts "well let us hope that kindness will not be her undoing after all being a hunter is not as much of a bed of roses as she might think it is." Noticing the tilt of her head I answer her unspoken question "being a hunter or mercenary can have dark moments, not all assignments are for Grimm after all.

With a soft nod, she heads in allowing me to follow her in as we wait for the drunken uncle of theirs to show up, which meant we had time to eat and then wait some more for him to come. Eventually, the crash of an empty glass announces his arrival. Looking around the tables for a few seconds he finds us, stumbling over to sit down with a swig from his flask "hello there young brats and to you red wolf" his rough and gravely voice greets us with the stench of cheap whiskey coming from his breath. The girls jump over to him and hug him tight before he pushes them off softly "okay okay that's enough now, we will have some time for that later I want to talk to Mr. wolf here so why don't you two go do something else for a little bit". He turns to Yang and smirks softly at her "I hear a certain bar owner wants to talk to you about you apologizing to him" the blond's eyes widen and she chuckles nervously before walking out the door, the rev of a motorcycle engine sounding a second later. Qrow chuckles into himself and looks at the little redhead before rustling her hair "I hear the store across the street has the new issue of weapons monthly" she squeaks happily and speeds over to the store with a burst of rose petals.

"Damn maybe I need to use that one to have them leave me alone, they are sweet girls and all but they do get on one's nerves easily," I say as I take a sip of my drink before looking at Qrow, his eyes narrow at me some as his face seems to sober up quickly. "Now what business do you have for me?"

With a deep sigh he pulls out his flask, the crow emblem on it as he takes a swig, as he stows it in his jacket he starts to speak "well, to be honest, I wanted to use someone else but...at the moment you are the best option for this" a smirk appears as he leans in closer to me whispering lowly to where only my wolf ears could pick it up, "or rather I have need of your other identity".

With a nod, I look in his eyes and laugh softly "so its another morally grey area type job I take it? What are you going to have me do exactly and you know my prices are high"

"Oh I know you can be expensive but I have some information you might want, it concerns your little accident" putting emphasis on the word accident he pulls out a folder with the words ongoing investigation on it. At my obvious interest he lays it on the table and slides it over to me "it's not much but I was put on a job to follow that woman who attacked you" something in his words causes a red flag to pop up in my mind.

"How exactly do you know that this woman attacked me" I question the man.

"I just so happened to have been following her when I saw her attack you, I would have stepped in since you are an ally and all but you know how tailing someone can be, once they spot you it is over" waving his hand through the air he continues "besides with that bullshit semblance of yours I knew that you would be alright"

A sigh escapes my lips as I close my eyes thinking about taking the deal. On one hand, I needed the information as to who attacked me, on the other, I knew from past experiences that the man before me went on missions that often had him missing in action for weeks or months at a time. The times that he and Tai went out together is what led to my quick rise in the mercenary world after all. "Alright ill take the deal, now what is this mission of yours'' I hold my hand out to shake his, he grasps it as he tells me a location to meet him at and to come in the usual disguise of my other identity as we stand a woman screams from inside the cafe. We look over in time to see a man get thrown through the window, I walk over to him and see him wearing a black suit with a red tie along with a pair of red cracked sunglasses. After a moment I realized the crew that he belonged to. "Seems as if juniors men have taken on more than they can handle…" my words trail off as I see the shop that he had been thrown from "isn't that the shop you sent Ruby to?".

With a sigh, the old drunkard nods before starting to walk out to the street "yes it is, I better go clean up this mess". He looks up at the top of the building before continuing "never mind, its taken care of...come along and you will meet your new contractor sooner than I thought". His words catching my interest, I start to follow him. As we get to the shop we notice Ruby floating down beside a tall blonde woman with a riding crop and glasses. Her voice stern and authoritative as she was scolding the young girl.

" And lastly you need to work on that footing, I counted at least five times in that fight where your opponents could have tripped you...if they were smart that is" with a deep sigh the woman looks up and notices me and Qrow "why am I not surprised, did you have anything to do with this here Qrow".

He shakes his head before pointing at the little redhead "nope" with a pop of the p sound he picks Ruby up "all her fault".

With the woman closer I look her over, noticing how gorgeous she was; her older age being somewhat of a plus. It was at this time the inner voice decided to chime in with its own insight **_TAKE THE WITCH AND BEND HER TO YOUR WILL_**. The voice really was one of the worst parts of my semblance, that and what happens if I let it get out of control. A flash of a blood-soaked child enters my mind, with a shake of my head I turn to leave "I'll be in contact Qrow". After walking a few minutes I slip into a dark alleyway my aura flaring up as it does, a dark purple glow illuminates the area around me slightly. "Well let's see if I have enough aura built back up to do this" I mumble to myself as I feel shadows bend and wrap around me, the familiar coldness bringing a smile to my face. The shadows fully close around me and the sensation of falling soon follows, as it stops I open my eyes to notice I was in my room at the Xiao-Long household. "Well seems I did have enough, I should be able to teleport close to the address Qrow gave me with the aura I have left." Pulling off my gauntlet I place it on the bed before activating my semblance, causing shadows to bend and form around me as a hooded black trench coat. Walking over to the door of the room, I send a text to Qrow asking when to meet him. As I go to leave the house I pat Zwei on the head before I feel a buzz in my pocket. Pulling out my scroll I read the response from Qrow.

There is a change of plans, meet me at beacon as soon as you can, your contractor is waiting for you in the headmaster's office.

Raising an eyebrow I shrug before I activate my semblance again, shadows forming a mask in the shape of a wolf's face around my own face. The feeling of falling comes to me again as I teleport to the rooftop of Beacon, panting some I jump down to a balcony outside the headmaster's office, teleportation always taking a massive chunk out of my aura with each use. Looking up I see Qrow leaning on a desk drinking from his flask, almost dropping it as I knock on the window.

"What the hell, don't scare an old man like that, I could die from a heart attack at any moment you know" he scolds me as he opens the window allowing me to hop inside.

"If those girls have not killed you yet then you should be fine, so exactly what have you gotten me into, dusty bird," I say as I look around the office. All things considered, it was a bland office in every aspect but the massive clock gears inside the floor and ceiling. The old hunter goes to speak but stops as a ding sounds from a door on the other side of the room, an old man walks out using a cane in one hand while sipping a cup of something in the other. As he walks over to the desk I get a better look at him, grey hair with brown eyes glances over at me as he sits at the desk.

"Hello there Qrow I take it that this is the help I sent you to find?" the older man speaks as he looks me up and down, stopping at the mask I wore "and what an interesting person you have found"

Qrow looks at me before nodding to the man at the desk "he is, you have here the infamous Pariah, we know each other through a...mutual contact of sorts".

With a sip of his drink, the grey-haired man looks at me before chuckling softly "would that contact be a certain new mercenary would it? The same one that has been staying with your nieces"

Eyes narrowing under the mask I look at Qrow whose eyes were narrowed as well in disbelief, with a wave of his hand he speaks "the jig is up, seems old man Ozpin knows already"

The old man now known as Ozpin smirks to himself as I pull off the mask, it fading away into a whisp of shadows.

"I wonder exactly how he knows that I was sure that my tracks were covered thoroughly. As Ozpin takes another sip of his coffee his smug look starts to piss me off, I get the feeling that he loves to play around and have fun with those under him. If this deal was to go through, it seems that I would be in for a rough time.

"Oh do not worry, your secret is safe with me Mr.Tyler. And for all intents and purposes, you did cover your tracks well enough" taking a slight pause to finish his cup he continues "but for all its worth I am a headmaster and as such I know most things that happen in this city". Ozpin folds his hand in front of his face as he looks into my eyes " now shall we begin talking about this deal?" he motions for me to sit at his desk, as I do he continues on. "Now this job will be somewhat of a delicate matter involving you infiltrating a certain criminal group under the control of Roman Torchwick and during your infiltration gain information on his dealings as well as the one who hired him, if you choose to accept this you will be paid weekly from me as well as be allowed to keep any of the money you gain from whatever jobs you will need to run to get in Romans good graces. Although...from what I hear the infamous Pariah is in high demand as a bad guy for hire so to speak"

"Well, you are not wrong at that assumption. Pariah does have an influx of others to help them in...less than reputable jobs. So if I am to be correct you want me to infiltrate his crew and find out his dealings. Who he deals with. As well as follow him just like his little ice cream themed midget". When Ozpin nods I keep going "is there anything else you would have me to do?"

The headmaster smirks before looking me up and down "tell me, how do you feel about being a teacher here at beacon? The students here need teachings in...subjects that I feel you could help in." when he notices my raised eyebrow he smirks before standing up. "The students need preparation in learning how to deal with criminals and the like, as well as to more effectively deal with human targets. While they do have combat class for general combat. You would end up being a more specialized combat teacher meaning that you will develop them as...the killers they hopefully will not have to become"

I stand up and hold my hand out to him his offer being a tempting one to me for many reasons. On one hand, I would end up being able to live in my other life risk-free since if I was caught I would be bailed out by Ozpin, and on the other, I would end up being able to learn more about beacon and its staff: the knowledge that could come in handy in the future. "You have a deal, old man, as long as you will make sure my crimes will be absolved if I am caught"

"You have a deal…" his words trail off when he shakes my hand, a look of recognition crosses his face before he smirks, something that quickly has begun to get on my nerves "that is all for now, if anything else comes up Qrow here will get into contact with you. As for when you are to start your mission that will be whenever you are able to."

* * *

A short while after the meeting I am in front of a bar with a neon sign above it reading "The Club" in bright colors. Looking around I spot an alleyway that allowed me to conjure up my mask before walking to the bouncer at the door. One nod from me was all it took for the bouncer to let me in, much to the protest of those waiting in line. Sometimes being famous in the underground did pay off. A pair of voices speak to me in unison, one on each side of me.

"Our boss told us to bring you to the V.I.P room so you can rest before the meeting and have better privacy" looking down I am greeted by the smile of a set of twins, Melani and Miltia Malachite look back at my masked face. The twins had taken a liking to me when I began dealing with their boss, a man who went by the name of Junior. When I asked them why they acted this way towards me the only response was that I did not try to hit on them and I was able to tell them apart with ease, another reason being they found the mask hot and not knowing my face made them want to see it at whatever the cost.

"Alright then lead the way girls, and remember no funny business" the twins pout playfully as they take me to a backroom. Looking around I see a lavish red couch large enough for a few people to sit on it and have room to spare. Sitting down one twin sits beside me as the other walks out to get junior "so tell me, what mood is junior in tonight" I ask the twin that had stayed, Miltia.

Miltia sighs and runs a hand through her raven black hair before smoothing out her red dress making sure to twist her legs in a way that made it ride up her just enough to give me a look at her legs. Falling for her bait my eyes look down to her well-toned thighs as she pulls her dress up just enough to give me a flash of her pure white panties. "I seem to recall saying no funny business".

With a small giggle, she pulls her dress back down before tracing the mouth of my mask "ah but you looked didn't you? Seems you did not fully mean what you said hmmm" she teases as she leans in, placing a small kiss on the nose of the mask before moving away teasingly. **_Let your lust show take the girl as your own_** for once I was tempted to do as the voice said, I was a man after all gods dammit. Sighing I adjust my mask before looking at her sternly the effect being lost under the mask. "To answer your question he is a little stressed tonight, the club hasn't been getting a lot of visitors since that blonde bimbo wrecked it. But junior thinks of her as a little sister so he takes it easy on her. Speaking of, I hear him coming now" true to her words the door opens and junior walks in, his suit looking the same as his henchmen in every aspect but he was clearly more expensive. He nods to me before sitting down on the other side of Miltia who proceeded to walk over to the bar on the other side of the room.

"So tell me, what can I do for one of my most valued customers?" the man beside me spoke as he took off the sunglasses he wore as part of his crew's gimmick.

"Well, I need in touch with a certain ginger whose been making a name for himself in the news lately. My clients as of late have been of the lower-paying type, and word is he has involved himself with the white fang so I am sure he needs some extra protection." Junior laughs before taking the drink Miltia offered him. She hands me one and I hold it out to Junior "do we have a deal? Get me in contact with him before the weeks over and ill pay just a little bit more than the usual." he quickly clinks it with mine before nodding.

"I'll have you in contact with him tonight, after all, tonight is the usual night for his little psycho to come and mess with my patrons, how about you wait back here and ill send her in once she gets here? The twins can keep you company?" and with that, a new chapter to my life began.


	5. Dubious Friends

**_a/n well now that the first few setup chapters are finished it's time to start focusing on the plans I have laid out for it. And without further adieu the first full-length chapter of The Outcast Of Remnant _**

**_cover image by Ren Lyles_**

**_Instagram: renlyles_**

* * *

**_Chapter Four: Dubious friends_**

Within the hour a knock came from the door to the V.I.P room and in came Junior, his voice strained some as he steps aside to allow someone in "just as promised, i'll let you two have some privacy. Oh and if you need anything else just knock on the door, i'll have a guy posted here" and just as quickly as he came, he left. Despite his bravado, this newcomer had unnerved him and one could not blame him. Neopolitan had a reputation that was greater than even my own in the criminal underground. Not much was known about her past from what I could tell, even the best information brokers were able to find out anything. It was as if she had just suddenly appeared one day, and ever since then, her skills had become infamous.

Looking her over I take note of her eyes first, one being pink and the other brown matching her namesake. The same could be said for her hair one side brown and the other pink with a light grey streak through it. Her outfit consisted of a whitetail jacket with pink accents as well as a black corset that allowed just a small amount of skin to be shown on either side of her hips due to her pants riding just under the waistline. Standing up I walk over to her and extend my hand slowly, not knowing what she might try, her beauty being just as dangerous as her psychotic tendencies "Hello Neopolitan, would it be correct to assume Junior told you why I wanted to meet you as well as who I am?"

With a nod, she takes my hand which completely swallowed hers up due to her very small stature and by small I mean almost the size of a young teen. With a tilt of her head, she motions towards the couch before walking over to it, swaying her hips with the grace of a master seductress. Sitting on the opposite side of her I begin the discussion "so as you have heard from Junior I would like to meet up with your boss and join the crew, not as some lowly grunt mind you; I do believe my skills would be better served in another position". Pulling one finger to her lips she tilts her head back and forth as if thinking it over, after a few seconds her eyes widen as her mouth opens in an oh gesture as she holds the finger above her head "You have an idea?" she nods quickly pointing at herself then at me before holding her hands together. "Yes, I'm suggesting I help be his bodyguard. No offense to you since I know you are more than capable of helping him out." at my words she pouts playfully before punching my arm with just enough force to show her intent. Laughing softly as I nod to her "yes you are very strong, in fact, I would love to fight against you one day. Not to the death mind you, but to at least an aura break." at the glint in her eyes I could tell admitting that was a mistake. The shadows voice pipes in with its brilliant wisdom **TEST YOUR METTLE AGAINST THE SMALL ONE AND SHOW YOUR MIGHT**. Choosing to ignore the voice I continue on "you do have to admit that even you cannot be in two places at once right?"

Standing up the ice cream themed woman walks over to me and stands in front of me, due to how low the couch was I am forced to look up at her, a sight that was pleasing to the eye if I do say so myself. If only this wasn't a business call I think to myself as she places a hand on my chest to trace the slight muscles there. She pulls away and nods before pulling out a scroll, she quickly types out a message then shows it to me.

_I find you acceptable, I will set up a meeting with Roman. All I need is your scroll number and we have a deal_

Due to the number of emoticons she had at the end of the text, it was hard to see her as the danger she was known to be. "Alright then you have a deal Neopolitan" she shakes her head as I say her name "would Neo be okay then?" with a nod she hands over her scroll for me to program my number in. While I do that she reaches up to my mask, no doubt aiming to attempt to take it off. Stepping back I push her scroll into the outstretched hand before putting a finger up " only a choice few know who I am under this mask and I would prefer to keep it that way"

Crossing her arms she pouts while stomping her feet like a child. When I take no action to continue she bends forward letting her arms hang low in a sulking way before she straightens up and walks out the door. As she leaves she blows a kiss at the guy guarding the door who proceeds to stammer in embarrassment. Well, that was an interesting conversation, but at least I have my way in hopefully. I should probably stay in Vale for the night. Shooting a message to the sisters I head out the club. Hearing the sound of a crow caw behind me I turn in time to see Qrow walkout from an ally beside the club, I follow him as he motions towards the ally.

"Soo, the ice cream midget left looking smug with herself. Can I take that as a good sign" when nod he laughs some before placing a hand on my shoulder. "Well, then good job, as a reward here is the first payment from good old Ozzy boy" he hands me enough lien to rent a motel for a week. When I pocket the lien he continues "there will be more from him after your first report, don't spend it all in one place" he starts to walk off before he turns and looks at me "oh before I forget, here" he throws me a black scroll, as I catch it he continues. "That is the official scroll for teachers at Beacon, Oz wanted you to have it." and with that, he walks off to leave me with my own thoughts.

"Huh, never thought that I would be a teacher...seems that my life has gone off the rails even more than one would think. Now, where should I sleep tonight" I mutter to myself as I get a text from my regular scroll. Pocketing the black scroll in my left pocket I pull out my normal scroll from my right pocket to see a text from Cindy. While reading it I allow the mask to fade away before smiling softly to myself. It seems that I have a place to sleep for the night after all.

* * *

A short cab ride later leads me to stand in front of a medium-sized house with an attached garage, which I knew housed only materials and weapons that need finished. Walking up to the door I knock, the sound of quick footsteps grow louder before I hear the door unlock as Cindy speaks from inside.

"Come on in, you know the way still I hope" her voice grows softer as she walks down the hall before I can enter. Walking in I look around at a seemingly bland entryway knowing well enough that the small weapon maker would rather spend money on her projects than her own home. When I walk down the hall I hear her voice again "come on you slowpoke I don't have all day here."

"Oh so I'm the slow-" my words cut off quickly as my eyes widen at the sight that awaited me when I walked into the living room where she was at. Standing in front of me was the woman I had known for over a year now, who I counted as one of my closest allies, and here she was standing in front of me with her hair straightened out from its normal large bun. My eyes trail up to the top of her head where a pair of small mouse ears twitched softly, looking down lower I notice that she was wearing only a large oversized white t-shirt which only made her small frame even more apparent.

Noticing the rising color to my cheeks she smirks before quickly walking closer to me, making me look down at he as she speaks "ohhh is the big bad wolf turned on by a little old mouse hmmm" her words take on a teasingly seductive tone as she places a hand on my chest. She laughs softly before pulling me onto the couch, straddling me as she does. "Where was this when I tried it all before? You are not as cold and emotionless as you were when we first met." she holds one finger to her lips and gives me an innocent look. "Could it perhaps be spending times with those two girls has cracked that shell of yours?" when I stutter some she laughs before leaning in and placing a quick kiss on my lips which made my blush only grow even more. Noticing my increasing blush she giggled before laying her head on my chest to look up at me "well well well I like this Tyler very much~"

Looking down at her I try to get myself out of this situation when I see something familiar about the shirt that she had on. Studying the tag I see that it was from a shop I frequent and immediately see she was wearing one that I had left for her to safe keep. Deciding to try and use it to get her off I confront her about it "is that one of my shirts, huh Cindy?" this turned out to be a mistake as she smirks before standing up and backing up a few inches.

"Oh, you are right? How about I give it back to you hmm~~" with a shit-eating grin she slowly proceeds to pull my shirt off of her, revealing that her small frame was more of a muscled build as she pulls the shirt above her hips. Taking my stunned silence as permission she pulls it up further, just barely revealing her womanhood before I hold my hand out activating my semblance.

"Enough!" I say as shadows form in my hand before they shoot out to her, wrapping around her as well as forcing her to drop the shirt allowing it to cover her fully. I close my eyes to focus on getting my mind back on track before I speak to her "Now you cannot just surprise someone like that okay?...who knows what I may have done…" I whisper the last bit hoping that she could not hear them. The twitch of her mouse ears, as well as her smirk, tells me she heard.

"Oh I reeeaaalllyy~ like this version of you, care to tell me why the sudden change?"

With a wave of my hand, the shadows around her fade away letting her go as I groan to myself "no clue...if I were to guess then I would say that my accident and almost dying would have a profound effect on myself"

"Hmmm, or could it be those girls you are staying with," she asks as she sits beside me.

"You could be right…' my words trail off in thought before looking at the mouse faunus "so tell me what is it that you have to show me?"

At my words, her eyes seem to sparkle before she quickly runs into a room at the back of the house before running back with her scroll. "Here lookie at these blueprints for that bunny girls weapon. She told me to adjust a few things according to your words" she turns the scroll to me to look over it.

Looking over the blueprints I look at her questioningly "well it does not look like anything has changed. But considering that I am not good with these things that is not saying much"

With a pout, she facepalms before sighing to herself as she mumbles something even my hearing could not pick up. "You are hopeless at times, the big bad mercenary is hopeless beyond all hope."

Laughing I pat her head softly, letting my hands run on her mouse ears which caused her to lean into the touch instinctively. Touching the animal part of a faunus would normally be reserved for someone you care deeply about but Cindy had often stated how she wanted someone to do it for her. This continued for a few seconds before she realized what I was doing, her eyes widen and she looks at me with an almost childlike innocence.

"Okay now I really like this new you...can you do it again?" at my laugh she pouts and crosses her arms.

"Well, that is the only nice thing you will get out of me tonight. And speaking of tonight mind if I sleep here tonight?"

With a tilt of her head, she thinks for a few seconds before nodding softly "on onnneee~ condition, you give me one free pass to call in for whatever I need no questions asked"

"Okay you have a deal and don't try anything else or the deal will be null and void, got it?" narrowing my eyes at her I let my aura pulse around me. A dark purple almost black color forms around me in the shape of my body like a bodysuit. As quickly as it appeared it fades away, leaving the smell of an earthy forest.

"You know I find it interesting that your aura creates a scent so strongly, normally its more subdued right?" nodding I make to stand up, starting to head to the guest room she left vacant for me for occasions such as this. "Hey! Aren't you going to tell me goodnight or something" the mousey blonde yells playfully at me.

With a small chuckle, I walk back over to her and place a kiss on her forehead whispering "goodnight little mouse." her eyes widen before she punches me hard on the arm, the strength of it would be surprising to many due to her size but for me, it was normal at this point. My friendship with her had always been an interesting one when we first met she had been excited to have a faunus customer in an area of Vale that had hated faunus. When I had told her of the plans for my weapon she ended up loving the weapon to the point she had joked about shared custody. Over the few months, it took to figure out the technique we used to build the weapon we had grown closer, even though I acted somewhat cold to her like I did many others.

"Goodnight to you. .Wolf" she scurries off to her room, a blush appearing on her cheeks as she does. It had become commonplace for her to try and get me flustered but she could never take what she dished out. With a laugh to myself, I walk into the guest room to sleep as the voice speaks **TREAT THE MOUSE LIKE THE PREY THAT SHE IS **sighing at the voice I shake my head before laying down.

The next day I wake up to the sound of my scroll going off as if someone was sending spam text, looking at it I see it was from an unknown number and as I read the text I could see it was from Neo. I save the number and put her contact image as a bucket of ice cream for comedic reasons. As more messages flood in I respond back and she responds quickly

_Yes, I am up you can stop flooding my phone now. _

_Oh, goodie~ now come to this address tonight and Roman will meet with you. Oh, and I will be there, of course, ~ ill play nice with you ;)_

_From the stories I have heard, I'm sure you will play nice _

A series of emojis is all I got in response to my last message before she quits responding. From the rumors spread throughout the kingdom, the girl was a danger to anyone she feels like messing with. Her sadistic nature, as well as her combat skills, were just an infamous as her child-like attitude. Stories of her using that childlike attitude to kill many an unsuspecting foe came to mind. "Well Tyler, you've gotten yourself into a minefield haven't you...this pay Ozpin promises better be worth it otherwise I may skip town again," I say to myself. Standing up I stretch, feeling the popping of a few joints as I do before walking out to the kitchen to fix some food for Cindy as payment for letting me stay the night. When I finish the food I leave her a note saying it was in the microwave before I leave the house. I had some free time till tonight so I figured I could spend some time with the little bunny if she was available. I send her a text before heading into town.

* * *

A short while later I find myself sitting in a coffee shop with the little rabbit in front of me, hot cocoa in her hands. "So tell me about your team some? You mentioned them last time we met up. Knowing about them and their fighting styles may help me in training you some"

An embarrassed look comes to her face as she tries to hide her face with her rabbit ears "w-well one of them is on her way here. I'm sorry I didn't mention anything!" she proceeds to keep her face hidden as her face grows red.

With a laugh I take a sip of my coffee before patting her head softly "don't worry, it is no problem at all. In fact, this is even better considering I can get a first-hand account of the way she fights. Can I ask her name?"

"My name is Coco, may I ask your name Mr. red-haired wolfy" the sound of a female voice comes from behind me, causing Velvet to squeak softly in an attempt to hide her face even more.

I stand and turn around taking in the newcomer, the first thing I notice is the shades she is wearing even indoors as well as the black beret. Her outfit consisted of a coffee-colored sweater with a black scarf wrapped around her neck. Black leather pants fit tightly against her legs that seemed well-toned, a feature made more apparent due to the high heeled leather boots she had on "well Coco this wolf has a name" holding out my hand she takes it as I continue "the name is Tyler".

"How strange, you aren't named after a color?" she walks over to sit beside velvet, wrapping an arm around her as she does. "Now tell me what is your interest in my little Bun Bun here?" looking over her shades at me I see the small dangerous glint in her dark brown eyes.

It seems she is a bit overprotective, just as Velvet had told me. Although her intimidation had little effect on me I decided to play along with her game. "Well, the little Bun Bun" Velvet seems to flatten her ears against her face even more as I speak the nickname "has a weapon design that I can help her train with due to my semblance acting as a version of her weapon."

"Oh she told me all about you, in fact, she would not shut up the day she met you"

At this the little rabbit jumped up "I'm going to the bathroom now!" she tries to hide her blood-red face with her hair as she walks past me to the bathroom.

The girl across from me laughs to herself before reaching across to take a sip of my coffee, with a grimace she puts it back down "well I was starting to like you until I tasted that abomination of a drink"

Raising my eyebrow I take a drink as well, noting the taste of honey vanilla lip balm as I do "it is just black coffee what's wrong with that?" her disgusted face is all I got in response before she changed the subject.

"So from all the information, I have found on you has made me wonder why you offered to help her out. The few who worked with you said that you were cold heartless and efficient at what you do. All the signs show someone who would not help my little Bun Bun." she leans in some before continuing on. "And if this is some ploy just to get into her pants I-"

Putting a finger to her mouth I stop her "that is not it in the slightest, and besides why would I want to do that when you are here now?" my voice takes on a teasing tone as I pull my finger away.

"Hmm okay maybe I do like you again, but back to the question. Why are you not like what the information has said" she leans back into the chair getting comfortable.

"Well, to be honest, I would say almost dying is one hell of a reason to change your outlook on life. I had a run-in with someone who gutted me. If it wasn't for the healing factor of my semblance then I would have died."

Nodding she taps one finger on her chin as she mulls over my response. After a few seconds, she nods and takes a sip of Velvets hot cocoa before speaking "well I guess I'm fine with it, after all, no one I know of could help her with a weapon as complicated as hers." it was at this time Velvet comes back and sits down, having obviously splashed some cold water on her face. Coco leans in and whispers softly to the long-eared girl next to her "I like your boyfriend Velvs"

"Coco stooooop!" and with that, the blush had returned as well as Velvet's accent coming out thicker than before. She proceeds to push Coco away who only laughs in response before standing up and saying she would see Velvet later.

Face Planting on the table Velvet groans loudly before looking up at me "I am so sorry about her...she is a handful at times. Especially when it comes to being protective of me"

Chuckling lowly I pat her shoulder softly "well at least it means she cares right?" at her groan I laugh and stand up asking if she would want to go somewhere else.

"Well I need to go to Cindy's to drop this off" she motions to the weapon strapped to her hip.

"We can head over to her shop then, I am sure she wants to kill me after what I did last night anyway so this should be fun" noticing her curious look I laugh softly and start walking in the direction of Cindy's shop "it turns out that she cannot take the type of teasing she dishes out.

"Ohhh I got you, hey wait up!" she starts to run after me to catch up.

The shop comes into sight soon after and something seemed off in the air, both of us seem to feel it. "Hey wait here, something is not right here." my words were proven right as a man runs out of Cindy's shop holding a bag. "Oh this is about to be fun, watch this" activating my semblance I push my right hand forward causing a tentacle shaped shadow to arc out and into the hand of the man.

Dropping the bag he cries out as he holds his hand "Fucking hell, you done messed up you Faunus trash"

The racist remarks cause Velvets ears to droop down sadly while only angering me. Whipping the shadow tentacle again it slaps him across the legs causing him to fall to the ground. Walking over I form a small shadow dagger in the other hand. "So what was that remark? I love to cut out the tongue of racist trash such as you." the man grows silent as I kneel down and push the dagger near his lips. "That's what I thought" I slam the hilt of it into the man's temple to knock him out. "Hey Velvet do you wanna call the police for me?"

"O-okay!" she pulls out her scroll and begins calling the police to let them know just as Cindy walks out of her shop with a massive hammer in her hand.

"Okay you little shit I'm gonna beat your as- oh hello there you two" she looks down at my right arm and points to it "hey you okay?"

Looking down at my right arm I see dark lines creeping out from my sleeve. "Seems I let my emotions slip more than I had hoped...damn racist" another of the drawbacks to my semblance. If I use it while having a strong negative emotion such as anger, the shadows can sort of take over and cause me to act in ways that are best kept hidden. **YES LET ME FREE LET ME RUN WILD. **"would you shut the hell up" I whisper lowly enough so no one hears it before turning to Cindy "ill be fine, just gotta cool off for a second"

Velvet runs up and looks at the guy on the ground before marveling at the shadow tentacle coming from my hand "whoa..i thought it was only weapons you could create" she pokes it before pulling her hand away quickly "that's cold!"

Chuckling Cindy walks up and pats her on the shoulder before pulling her into a massive bear hug, which caused the little rabbit to squeal softly "oh he can make a lot with his shadows, you should see the summons he can do." she sets Velvet down before sirens sound, causing all of our ears to flatten some due to the sound.

"Well you two might want to head into the shop, I'll deal with the cops for ya" with a wide grin she signals me to let the unconscious man free before she heaves him over her shoulder with ease to walk towards the cop car that came into view. As I walk into the shop I hear Velvet start to walk in with me. She proceeded to set her weapon onto the counter before walking over to me. At my raised eyebrow she pulls up my sleeve to look at the lines on my arm which had faded away quickly.

"Wait they are gone already?...what were they?" She looks up to me with wide eyes that made her look more adorable than she already had. Her eyes widen even more as she realizes the closeness "s-sorry!" she backs up some hiding her hands behind her back.

"It is a part of my semblance, if I let negative emotions influence my actions then the shadows can..take me over for lack of a better term. It is another of those reasons that people stay away from me due to them fearing this 'dark power' as they call it." a sigh escapes my lips as I lean on a glass display. "It can be bothersome but it is what I have to live with"

"Well, you have had a good job of controlling it from everything I have seen" the sides of her lips curl up in a soft smile as she hops up onto the counter I'm leaning on, her legs swinging slowly as she does. Her cuteness seemed to grow the more time I spent with her.

The bell above the door rings out causing both of our ears to flatten out when Cindy walks in, tying her hair up in her usual large bun to hide her ears. With a glare to me, she walks over and pushes her finger into my chest before chewing me out "now tell me how in the hell are you going to make up for that last night huh? Tell me tell me?"

Putting my hand on her head to push her away I laugh softly and looks at Velvet who had a curious look on her face "see I told you she could not handle the teasing she does to everyone else." the small blonde huffs softly as she grabs the weapon beside Velvet.

"Oh hush up you red-headed little..well not so little bastard. Now come on back with me little rabbit and let us get started on these improvements." she grabs the rabbits' hand before pulling her to the backroom leaving me alone.

"Well, I will see you two some other time," I say loud enough for them to hear before heading outside the store. Vibration comes from my pocket and I pull it out seeing it was the scroll that Qrow had given me. On it read a message from a contact named Oz that told me to meet up at the headmasters' office in beacon. "Well, it seems my day has some more things to do before the meeting tonight..although if I wanted all these meetings I could have just joined the S.D.C" with a small sigh I call up a cab to take me to the school.

The school had always had an air of oldness to it, probably due to the castle-like theme to it. Making my way into the courtyard I look around at the design of it, noting places that seemed to hide cameras. It seems that Ozpin has a better security system than one might think due to the old style of building. A scoff catches my attention as a woman walks towards me, her blonde hair and sharp gaze only making her beauty even more striking. At a closer look, I realized she was the woman who was scolding Ruby the night she stopped the robbery.

"You are Mr. Morgan, am I correct?" she asked me with a tone that showed she was unimpressed with me.

Nodding I hold my hand out to her which she ignores, choosing to turn and start walking into the school.

"I see, now follow me at once. The headmaster is waiting on you" following her the thought crosses my mind that she seemed to need some good destressing, maybe I should ask Qrow about that. We continue to walk through the school, some students who chose to stay during summer break whisper as we walk by.

"Hey is that the new teacher?"

"He seems kind of young, about the age of a fourth year."

"I heard he should be feared as a beast" that comment caused me to sigh softly, which caused my escort to turn around and scowl at the students who quickly ran away no doubt afraid of the woman.

"I apologize for those students, word spread quickly about your being hired and many students figured out that you were a mercenary and...those other rumors about you due to your-"

Holding a hand up to cut her off I shake my head softly "no need to apologize, this is something that has happened since I was a child. It does not affect me as much anymore" her face softens just slightly as she nods.

"Very well then, let us continue on then." we make our way to an elevator that takes us up into the headmasters' office, the man himself standing at the large window as we walk in.

"It is good to see you again, I assume the scroll is working well for you?" with a nod from me he walks over and extends his hand out to me. "Now I called you here to discuss a few things, chief among them being exactly what you will be doing here as a teacher" as I shake his hand he walks over to a coffee pot on the side of his massive desk before pouring two cups. "Do you take yours with cream or sugar?"

"No, actually I take mine black"

His eyes light up softly as he turns to the woman in the room "see Glynda, someone else agrees with me" with a small scoff Glynda turns to walk out the door. "I am sorry about her, she is somewhat prejudiced towards you. I am afraid it is my fault though, after all, I am the one who chose to hire you on as a teacher as well as give you your...other job"

With a nod I take the cup he offered me, after testing the heat I activate my semblance causing shadows to wrap around it. Noticing his questioning look I decide to explain "the shadows in their purest form have a very low temperature, some would say freezing in fact" the shadows around the cup fade away as I take a sip. The taste of it causing a small surge of happiness as I drain the contents of the cup.

"So that would explain why your hand has felt so cold whenever I shake it. Another thing that is interesting about you that I shall keep in mind." with his usual smug smirk he takes a sip of his own cup before continuing. "Now we should discuss exactly what you would be doing here as a teacher. As well as making sure you are prepped for the start of the year in a few months."

Having already been wondering what I would be teaching, I nodded with a slight interest in my eyes. He smirks even more before walking over to the window, taking a deep breath before talking again.

"The air in the kingdom has changed lately into one that is of a more volatile nature, what with the white fang presence being even more pronounced as of late. As well as Roman torchwick's affiliation with them. And lastly, the one that they both work for...this one being the worst of the three. If I can be frank with you..war is on its way to the kingdom or rather all of the kingdoms I should say." his expression grows dim as he turns to me. "And my students will need to be prepared to fight...in any way they need to for them to survive"

A question enters my mind as he speaks " from what I know, beacon already has a combat class led by Glynda. Is that correct or am I wrong?" with a nod his facial expression returns to the normal smugness that I have grown to associate him with.

"While that is correct, the class she teaches is a more general style of combat that is designed to give them a small bit of combat against human opponents but…" taking another sip of his coffee he pauses for a moment. "But in actuality, it keeps their reflexes in shape and does not give them the teachings for what will be necessary should this war come" another moment of silence lets me speak again.

"So due to my experience in more morally grey areas, of which I still want to know how you do know about" his smirk enters the shit-eating grin territory as he sees the small anger on my face. "With all that in mind you want me to teach your students to kill other humans, you do know many will not want to take a class like that. As well as the council more than likely would not approve of a class such as that"

"While that is true about the council if the description of your class is altered some to say something like.." waving his hand his tone takes on a playful tone "a specialized combat class designed for those who want to exceed in taking on human targets. The council would be happy with that. As for students not wanting to take your class, it will be completely optional for them." folding his hands in front of his face he gets a mischievous look in his eyes.

"I see...so you want me to mold these kids into something like me. Are you sure about this?"

"While...it is something I may regret doing in the future, it would be more regrettable to lose many of them in a battle that they did not even ask for '' at his words his face seemed to age many years before he sighs softly. "Is this acceptable for you?"

Thinking over it I nod after a few moments "yes it is, I will give you a small army of capable fighters should they choose to join my class"

"Great! Now you should be getting a document sent to your official scroll detailing things like your payment as a teacher and the benefits associated with being one. Oh speaking of, hand me the scroll" as I hand him the black scroll he slides it into an access port on the desk before handing it back to me "now you have access to one of the teachers' rooms on campus, use it as you see fit"

"Is this all you need of me?"

He nods closing his eyes "for now yes, oh and do let me know how your meeting with that woman goes tonight." and with that, I leave, my intention being to check out the room given to me. A message from Ruby changes my mind.

_Hey, can we meet up? I'm kinda bored and in Vale and I remembered you were in town on business you said but I hoped you would be free and yeah...ehehe_

Laughing softly to myself I tell her to meet me at the beacon entrance then I head to the gate to wait for her. It takes her all of a few minutes to appear in a flood of rose petals.

"Why are you here at beacon! Tell me tell me tell me!" her wide eyes and childlike giddiness causes me to pat her on the head as she jumps up and down while talking.

"Oh did your uncle not tell you? I am now a teacher here at beacon, I will be teaching a combat class." seeing her mouth open to ask a question I put a finger to her lips to stop her. "And yes there was already a combat class here, my class will be of a different style of combat."

"Wait, that means I can be in your class!" she excitedly states before she sees my curious look. "Ohhh you didn't come back to the house so you don't know silly me" she hits the side of her head softly before striking a heroic style pose "due to my heroic actions in stopping the robbery of that store, headmaster Ozpin offered me to join his school when the year starts after this summer is over." her grin was infectious as I could feel my lips curl up some.

"Well the class I teach is optional, but you would have two combat classes if you took mine, think you're up to that challenge hmm?" leaning in I flick her nose causing her face to scrunch up. "Well do you want a tour? I don't know my own way yet but I do have an idea where my room will be. They gave me a teacher room to live in." her eyes grow larger and she jumps onto me wrapping her arms around my neck as she does.

"PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!" she quickly said as she attempted to shake me with each word. A blush starts to form when she notices the position she was in she drops down and smooths her skirt before coughing nervously. "Um, y-yes I would like that very much" the little redhead laughed softly at herself as she started to follow me into the school. Her child-like attitude began to show as she looked around with wide eyes and an open mouth. "Look at all these weapons! Is that a multi shifting shield oh my gods it's another scythe!"

"Hey, little rose we are almost at the rooms" as the words leave my mouth she stops suddenly and looks at me with a small almost somber smile. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No...its just that what my mom used to call me when I was a kid"

"Ah, I see. Do you want me to not call you that then" we reach the rooms and I look at the black scroll to see the room number given to me.

"No no no it's fine I actually like hearing it again…" her words trail off as we step into the room.

The first thing one could say about the room is that it was bigger than most apartments and was fitted with all someone would need to live comfortably. After checking the kitchen out it seemed it had been recently stocked as well, almost as if Ozpin had known I would accept the offer. There were two bedrooms, one a master bedroom with a king-sized bed and the other a guest room with a queen-sized bed. The bathroom was massive as well with a bathtub that swallowed ruby up as she giddily laid inside it.

"Oh wooow this is amazing, I hope the student rooms will be like this." a flurry of rose petals float around the room as Ruby flits around the room looking at everything and anything she can find. She ran back to me with a bottle that had a note on it. "I found this in the refrigerator I think it's for you?" as quickly as she came with the bottle she rushed back and put it into the refrigerator before collapsing onto the couch in the living room.

"Well someone is excited it seems" walking into the living room from the doorway I laugh and sit in a chair that was seated across from the couch. "I guess I'll be staying here from now on. I'll need to go by Cindy's to get some of the stuff she keeps for me"

An almost shit-eating grin spreads on her face, no doubt learning it from her sister "ooooohhh, are you dating your weaponsmith how romaannntiiicc" she squeaks softly as a small shadow ball hits her on the forehead.

"That is not something I will discuss with you" as she opens her mouth to speak. I form another ball of shadows onto my pointer finger before pointing it at her. With an audible snap she closes her mouth "that's what I thought"

"So are you gonna come back and visit us?..." and there it was, the insecurity I've come to expect from her no doubt having come from the past with her mother and the way her father had handled it.

"Yes I will come to visit you two at Patch, as well as I could possibly see about Ozpin letting you two come stay here or something like that." the way her eyes lit up made a smile appear on my face. " speaking of, where is your sister at? I'm surprised at her leaving you alone like this"

She starts pouting before sitting up cross-legged with a small huff "she is having a date with some random guy she met at some bar last night...hmpf blonde bimbo.." she whispers the last part hoping I could not hear her.

"Well she is an adult with her entering beacon now, as are you" her eyes grow to the size of dinner plates as she suddenly jumps off of the couch and zips around squealing "I'm an aduuulllttt"

"Well you might be one but you don't act like one" the laws of the four kingdoms had always swayed to favor hunters more often than the civilians. The biggest being anyone who entered one of the four major academies would be considered an adult, this was due to huntsmen and huntresses risking their lives on an almost daily basis among other reasons why. This would allow students to do anything that a normal civilian adult would be able to do, no matter the age of the student. The same thing applied to anyone who was romantically involved with a hunter, although some restrictions applied in terms of age for that rule. For instance, someone who was Rubys age of fifteen would be allowed to date someone up to six years older than her and the law would find no problem with it. This age would go up with each year passed until she was eighteen then she could date anyone with no problem. It is due to laws like this that would help allow the population to increase despite the lives lost due to Grimm.

"I am so going to rub this in her face when I see her next time" a mischievous tone comes into her voice before she sits back down on the couch. The sound of my regular scroll vibrating constantly catches both of our attention. As I read the text I see that Neo had sent me a message saying get to the meeting place now and Roman will not wait long for me.

"Well it seems I have some business to attend to little rose, how about you do something for me and get my stuff from Cindy? I'm sure she would love to hear about your weapon since she is as big a weapon nut as yourself. And if I am not back when you are, then you can stay and wait for me if you feel like it"

After giving the little reaper the address and letting Cindy know about it, I make my way to the address given to me by the ice cream themed woman.

* * *

The address given to me lead me to a small warehouse on the outskirts of Vale, forming the wolf mask I put it on as shadows swirl around me. As they fade a black trench coat is in place of my normal attire. Placing the mask on I also pull the hood of the trench coat up before walking inside the warehouse.

"Well well well, if it isn't the infamous Pariah and come to see little old me about a job in fact. I should count myself lucky on this one" a voice from above me calls out, looking up I see a ginger man wearing a bowler hat in a white business style suit. He grins at me before flipping his cane around so the handle of it is pointed at a support beam above us. With a clinking sound, the handle shoots out and wraps around the beam allowing him to glide down a few feet in front of me. "Now theatrics aside, lets talk business shall we?"

With a slight chuckle, I nod "that is fine by me, I assume your associate told you what it is that I am wanting?" lighting a cigar he puffs it before looking me up and down. After a moment of debating, he answers with a long drag of the cigar.

"Smell that? This is the best cigar money can buy, in fact, I would go as far as to say its the best I have ever had. So as you can see, I enjoy only the finest things money can buy. This goes even better for the help that I decide to employ. What makes you different from my little Neo?" at the mention of her name she appears beside him with the sound of shattered glass to signal her arrival.

"Well the fact your even meeting with me should show you know of my skills, otherwise your associate there would have killed me when I had asked to meet her. Would this be correct?" the ice cream themed woman nods her head with a sickly sweet smile. "Well with her acknowledgment of that is it safe to assume you are interested in my services" I allow a smug tone to enter my voice.

With a small glare to Neo, roman waves his hand back and forth as he speaks "so what if I am? What you can do, Neo here can do just the same."

"Hand me a dust crystal and ill show you what I can do better" after a moment of silence Roman digs into his jacket before throwing me a small red dust crystal. "Hmm grade two fire dust, wouldn't have much of a explosion now would it?" I activate my semblance and send shadows into the crystal, turning it black. I toss it back to the ginger who looks at it in surprise. "Now see how much power that thing has."

With a shrug of his shoulders, he tosses the crystal into the air before pointing the end of his cane at it which opens up with a shunk sound. A flare like projectile shoots out and hits the now black fire crystal, which explodes in a massive heatwave. "Well ill be dammed...that sized explosion would come from a grade eight or nine crystal id say...so what is that your semblance then. I had wondered why in all your jobs I've never heard of you using one." his eyes take on an almost money-hungry look to them.

"Yes it is, my aura powers up dust crystals of any kind, making them exponentially more powerful than what they were already. Now with that and my skills in combat do we have a deal?" I hold my hand out to him which he quickly takes, causing the girl beside him to clap enthusiastically.

"Well my masked fellow, you have yourself a deal." with that he drapes one arm over my shoulder and has a Chesire grin on his face. "I think this will be the start of something beautiful wouldn't you say?"

With a nod, the smallest one of us pushes me and Roman apart before pointing at my mask wit a questioning look. It was almost as if she was asking for me to take it off.

"Now now Neo everyone has their own secrets to hide, besides doesn't the mask give of that mysterious vibe I know turns you on?" the sound of a slap and glass shattering was the response he got as Neo disappeared from the warehouse. With a chuckle Roman runs his hand along the handprint forming on his face "Mr. Pariah id say you might want to watch your back because if she wants to see your face, she will see it. One way or the other. Now I bid you farewell, I have a date with a nice sexy Firecracker" laughing at his own self he makes to leave.

With the meeting finished I start to walk out of the warehouse before feeling eyes on me. "You can show yourself now. I'm better at hearing than most" turning around I see a pouting Neo who proceeds to stick her tongue out at me before walking up to me to hold her phone out for me to read.

_Oh cmon what would it take for me to see your face?!_

"It will take much more than you are willing to give" I point my hand down to her body, intending to just tease the woman but this was to be a mistake.

A smirk wider than any appears on her face as she presses herself onto me, her lips gracing the bottom of the mask before she presses harder into my crotch. Noticing my stiff body language she laughs silently before reaching up to take the mask off.

"Not so fast" I grab her wrist before pushing her away softly, her silent laugh growing worse before she shatters away for real this time. Shaking my head to rid myself of the thoughts that entered my brain. This woman could end up causing me to act upon some rather unsavory thoughts that I would rightfully say it was the darkness taking me over. With a loud sigh, I proceeded to head back to the room Ruby was left in, making sure no one was following me while I did so.

Ducking into an alleyway I let the mask and trenchcoat fade away before making my way to the room. As I go to press the black scroll to the doors lock I hear a familiar voice coming down the hallway. My ears flick towards the voice as it comes around the corner.

"I'm telling you Velvs if you don't get him then I-"

Another voice interrupts the first "oh dust he is here what why is he here?!" the sound of someone pushing another person back around the corner was heard as I look at the direction the voices came from.

"Velvet, Coco I can hear you two ya know? Faunus ears and all. And to answer your question as to why I'm here, I am the new teacher." the girls pop their heads around the corner before discussing something to themselves quiet enough for me to not hear them. With a grin, Coco pushes the faunus around the corner and into the hall before walking away whistling some tune.

"O-oh hello there Tyler...um she wasn't talking about you or a-anything when she said the get him thing and um" her sentence devolves into a nervous chuckle as her face turns a shade even Ruby would find to be too red. With a beep of my scroll, I unlock the door before motioning for her to come in with me.

Walking into the room the sound of light snoring causes both of our animal ears to flick softly. Entering into the living room area we see Ruby passed out asleep on the couch with cookies on the floor beside her and one half in her mouth.

"O-oh I didn't know you had a girlfriend"

With a low laugh, I pat Velvet on the head between her large floppy ears before pointing at the little reaper "no I am single, this here is Ruby. Her sister and she were the ones taking care of me while I was healing. Their house is the one we trained at." with a large soundless Ohh she facepalms herself before looking around the room "let me carry her to the guest room and we can talk if you want to"

"I never knew the teacher's rooms were so big, this is almost like an apartment by itself. No wonder the teachers never seem to leave" the sound of her looking through each room can be heard as I walk into the guest room.

Setting Ruby into the bed I go to leave but a tug on my shirt stops me, turning I see her hand gripping my shirt. With a small chuckle, I pry her hand off softly before returning to Velvet.

Walking into the living room I see the little rabbit looking curiously around the room, marveling at each thing she saw. After seeing she didn't notice me come in, I clear my throat causing her to almost drop the vase she held in her hands. "S-sorry it's just this is so much bigger and even fancier than the dorms we had that I um…" with a nervous chuckle she places the vase back onto the small table it had set on before quickly returning to the couch.

"Don't worry about it, that little redhead did the same thing, saying she had never seen something as fancy as this place. To be honest, it is much to fancy for even my own taste" having grown accustomed to living motel to motel due to the jobs I took, having a place to stay permanently seemed like a foreign concept to me. Walking over to a chair in the room I look at Velvet and smirk softly "so what was Coco going on about before she pushed you my way?" the blush that quickly spread along her face was priceless as she attempts to stammer out an answer.

"I-I um um it's just she likes to and I'm a target and um"

Holding my hand up I stop her "it's okay no need to explain. When we met it was made clear she likes to tease people and with you being her partner id assume your a prime candidate for it. Well…" my smirk grows as I feel the need to tease her "that and your expressions are cute"

Her eyes widen and she flattens her bunny ears against her face to attempt to hide herself "st-stop it!" it seems her accent came out, even more, when she was embarrassed.

"Fine, I just couldn't resist messing with my student some. Oh well, a student in two ways I suppose, teachers giving private lessons to students is accepted isn't it?"

Her ears spring back up as she nods quickly to answer me "yes it is a common practice...so you will still teach me how to use my weapon is that what your saying. Even though you're going to be a teacher here as well. Oh! And speaking of that, what will you teach"

Putting my hand on my chin as if to think about it for a second I look her up and down before answering her questions in order " the deal to teach you was made before I was appointed to be a teacher so yes ill keep teaching you. And the subject I am going to teach is combat"

Tilting her head she looks at me with slight curiosity before shrugging her shoulders some "i guess Mrs. Goodwhich needs a break too."

"Oh no she will still be teaching combat class as well, my class will be more focused on taking down human targets instead of just combat to keep your mind and body sharp during battle. Plus my class will be optional to students or so I have been told."

"Is it open to second years? I could use some help with fighting people."

Nodding I smirk softly before standing up to walk into the kitchen "you thirsty? They where kind enough to stock up the fridge for me"

Looking at her scroll she shakes her head some before standing up "thanks for the offer but I-i need to go, Coco keeps sending me some things that I would rather not say"

"Alright then, if Cindy is done with your weapon tomorrow how about we train. You could invite your team along if you want to." looking over to her I see a large smile on her face.

"Well, I believe Fox and Yatsuhashi are still busy but ill make sure ask, I know Coco would come in a heartbeat to watch. I'll send you a message tomorrow goodnight Tyler" with that she walks out the door just in time fo the voice of the shadows to pipe in with its wisdom **LET US BREAK THE TRUST. LET US VIOLATE THEM ALL.**

"You really are tasteless you know, no wonder I tune you out most of the time." with a sigh I walk to the master bedroom and send a message to Yang to let her know where her sister was before laying in bed to sleep.

* * *

_**a/n I hope you all will like this chapter. As usual, let me know in the reviews if you have any words of advice or any questions. As for the length of this chapter, ten thousand words is the goal I have set myself for the chapters in the future. The first few chapters were short due to me always sucking at writing the start to stories. Alright, Pariah fading away now. **_


	6. An Unlikely Ally

**_a/n well we now have an official cover image for the story drawn by Ren Lyles, it does sorta spoil the main romance of this story but oh well. I hope you all will enjoy this next chapter. _**

* * *

**Chapter five: An Unlikely Ally **

One thing that someone with my lifestyle can not and will not be able to get used to is waking up to someone in the bed with you, so waking up to a rose-scented body next to my own was a surprise. Just as it had been the few times it happened while staying at the girl's home. Opening my eyes to look around the first thing to catch my eye was the body of Ruby laying next to my own, the second thing to notice was the way her arms curled around my own arm. With a small chuckle to myself, I shake her to gently wake her up.

"Ruby hey Ruby wake up. It's time to get up." a soft groan and what sounded like a few harsh words were the only thing that I got in response to my prodding. "Well fine then, you asked for this to happen so don't blame me for what is about to happen next"

With a small squeak, Ruby is thrown onto the soft carpet floor. Groaning loudly she opens her eyes to look at me "oh hey Tyler...wait why am I on the floor?" she yawns before standing up stretching herself which caused her shirt to ride up some, revealing some of her small yet tight stomach as she does so. Averting my eyes from her, I go to stand up before she squeaks again.

"What is it?" as I turn around I see her face redder than her namesake. "Hey, are you okay? Are you feeling sick or something."

She shakes her head before pointing at me "y-you have not shirt on a-and I-I was…" her words end up becoming a bumbling mess while she pieces together what she was doing during her sleepwalking escapades.

"Oh don't worry, I'm sure all you did was cuddle me. At least that is all I can remember you doing" I allow my tone to take on an almost husky tone at the last sentence just to tease her. The result being a rush of rose petals where Ruby was as she attempted to hide somewhere.

With a laugh, I pull my shirt on finding it where I left it last night before settling into bed. Making my way to the living room I call out for the little reaper "hey where did you set my box you got for me?"

"I put it in the hall closet next to your room" her voice comes from down the hall into the guest bedroom. The sound of her semblance going off comes next as she rushes into the living room to stand in front of me. She holds her hands behind her and stands up on her tiptoes as she looks up at me "soooo what are we doing today?"

Flicking her head softly causing her to scrunch up her nose before she pouts softly "well remember the girl I told you about, the one I am training?" at her nod I continue. "We are going to train today as well, that is if Cindy is done modifying her weapon."

"Oh my gosh, do you think she would let me see her weapon and let me see what makes it tick!?" she jumps up and down childishly before jumping up to latch onto my arm. With a wide grin, she repeats her question over and over until I answer her.

"Well that will be up for her to decide, she also was going to see if her team members could come to watch her train."

At the thought of meeting hunters and huntresses, her eyes widen before she jumps up and down with all the fervor of a fangirl. "Ohmygoshohmygosh that will be amazing" she looks up at me with a sparkle in her eye. "Let's go let's go let us gooooo"

"Well let me see if she's even up and ready first, and as I said earlier, she will need to see if her weapon is ready. By the way, how was meeting Cindy? She can be a lot to handle I know." shaking her head Ruby grins widely before going into how she and Cindy became quick friends due to their shared interest as well as them being short stacks.

While she was talking I message Velvet to see if she was up and ready to train, after a few seconds she responds

_Oh yes, I am ready and my weapon is now fully up to spec with your suggestions. And where do you want to meet up at? I asked headmaster Ozpin if I could schedule one of the training rooms and he told me it was fine if you want to meet there. If not I'm fine with anywhere really _

Reading her text I responded letting her know I would meet her there and that Ruby would come along with me.

Walking out the door I pull up a map of the school on the black scroll and plot our way to the training room while trying to keep the little fangirl of a reaper in check. "Okay calm down Ruby, if you are going to be a student here you'll need to get used to seeing all of the weapons."

Pouting softly she punched me as hard as she could which truth being told felt like a small puppy lightly putting its paw on me. "Ugh fiiinnneeee, I guess I'll try and keep myself in check some."

"Well I could always just give you detention when the year starts up if you act up like this" allowing a teasing tone to enter my voice as I talk I push her away softly

With a loud playful gasp, she burst in front of me with her semblance and gets on her knees looking up at me with her hands in front of her face "oh please no Mr. Wolfy teacher man, I promise I'll be good and all that good stuff."

"Oh c'mon get up and stop that, we are almost there" another burst has her beside me once again as we turn down one hall and walk by a group of students.

As we walk past them one of the students steps infront of me shyly "u-um excuse me, sir. Would you happen to be the new teacher we are getting for the year?" looking at the student I see he is an elk faunus.

"Yes I am, can I ask why you need to know this, considering it seems many know more about me than I would have liked."

The student's eyes widen before smiling a somewhat sad smile "I'm glad then, maybe now we won't be treated as badly…" with this I raise one eyebrow and look at the other students, to my surprise they were all faunus as well.

"Well that was not my intention but...I'll be glad to help with anything, I have heard Beacon would rather its students settle matters on their own but my room will be open to any faunus in need. Or rather any student in need for that matter" at the light that appeared in the student's eyes I smile softly before walking off with Ruby in tow.

"Are all faunus like that?... I mean having that sad look in their eyes" looking down I see that Ruby has a solemn look while her voice has a saddened tone to it. Reaching down I rub her shoulder softly before seeing that we arrived at the training room Velvet told me to meet her at.

"Enough of this depressing subject, let us focus on something else now." with a nod she looks around the room in awe.

"Ohh wow this is amazing, will I get to train in here as well?"

Looking at the room it would be clear to anyone exactly what the purpose of the room was. Scorch marks adorned the walls in places as well as some metal parts that looked like they belonged to some atlesian knights. A sound from behind us causes my ears to perk up as I turn around in time to see Velvet crashing into the room.

"I'm here I'm here I'm here" she bends over holding her hands onto her knees as she pants softly. "Oh please tell me I'm not too late- oh hello there T-Tyler j-just give me a second to catch my breath.

After a few moments of Velvet catching her breath, I introduce Ruby to her. "Velvet meet Ruby, she will be coming to Beacon this year. In fact, she impressed Ozpin enough to let her skip the last two years of Signal academy."

Velvet holds her hand out for Ruby to shake, who looked as if she was two seconds away from exploding due to her inner fangirl "hello there Ruby, my name is Velvet scarlatina is nice to meet you."

"I'm Ruby rose! How long have you been a huntress? What's your team name? What is your weapon and what is its name?" the little redhead shakes Velvet's hand quickly with each question."

Pulling her away from Velvet I laugh at Ruby's enthusiasm "you two can get to know each other later, for now, me and her need to train. Speaking of that, what about your team? Are they coming to watch or did something come up"

Shaking her head the rabbit smiles softly before pointing to the door behind us "no they will be coming soon enough, at least Coco should be. Fox and Yatsu said if they can get away from their job they would come by. Oh also Ozpin said we would have this room completely to ourselves today since he knows I want to keep my weapon a secret for now." she pulls out the gold and brown box from her side before grinning softly.

"Ooooh it's much more compact than mine..I'm kind of jealous actually. Did you use some space expanding tech inside of it?" Ruby creeps closer to the weapon with sparkles in her eye.

"Actually no my weapon is just this small, its other form is really just a camera that I use to take pictures of other weapons which my weapon then uses to create hard light constructs of said weapons." with this Ruby gasp and attempts to grab her weapon before I pull her away by her hood.

"Now now Ruby, how about you see her weapon in action since it might answer some of your questions." she pouts cutely but proceeds to walk to one side of the room where some bleachers were at.

Velvet and I walk into the middle of the room before she looks down at my hands "so what weapon are you going to fight with?"

With a low smirk, I activate my semblance causing shadows to form around my right hand as they fade away my gauntlet appears to have formed on it. "Well, it'll be a surprise. Now come at me little rabbit."

Holding both of her hands out, bluish-white lines shoot from her weapon and form around her hands. As the lines fade away twin daggers are in their place. Holding them both in a reverse grip she rushes at me at a speed that her faunus heritage would be proud of. When she reaches me shadows explode out from me, causing her to be pushed back to where she started. "Wait what?..." she tilts her head in confusion as I chuckle softly

"That was a good attempt, but now it's my turn." forming a short spear in one hand and a longer one in the other I throw the long one at her causing her to parry it so it falls behind her. As she is parrying I rush in and thrust the short spear at her legs to which she jumps back to dodge. As she lands I step forward to press into her space. This causes her to stumble back and fall over the longer spear she parried. "Seems you need to keep aware of your surroundings."

With a soft almost cute growl, the daggers fade away before she forms bladed gauntlets on each hand. She runs into me going for a punch to my jaw before switching up to duck under my guard and getting a solid punch at my back only to receive a kick into her gut from me. She grunts before the weapons fade away once more in her hands. " I thought I had you there…" she looks down as her ears droop softly.

With her being distracted I let the spears fade away before forming a small ball of dense shadows into my right hand which shoots out quickly and into the center of her chest. Her aura flickers as she falls to the ground. "Ouch that kinda hurt you know." she rolls onto her stomach then stands up to turn to me. As she turns I rush into her, her eyes growing wide as she sees how close I am. While she attempts to form another weapon but my hands gripping her wrist down to her side stops it.

"Well now now I do believe that this match belongs to me." stepping back I smirk softly at her pouting face but tilt my head as she returns the smirk.

"Nope" was all I got before she jumps off of the ground to kick my jaw with her left leg. Seeing what her plan was I step to her right and grab her right leg throwing her to the side.

"Gave up using your weapon I-" my words are cut short as she twists midair throwing a hard light construct dagger at me. I manage to grab it with my gauntlet just in time for her to lunge forward with another small dagger. She stops just as the dagger is about to hit my throat. A soft smile graces my face as I see the proud look on her face.

"I'll give that one to you, little rabbit." quickly grabbing her wrist I twist the dagger out of her hand and continue twisting her wrist as I pull her arm behind her back placing the dagger onto her temple. "But not this one" as the dagger fades away I step back and laugh at the embarrassed blush that formed on her face.

She falls to the floor on her knees with a small growl of frustration before pointing at me "no! Let's do one more." with a small chuckle I flex the fingers on my gauntlet before getting into a boxing style stance.

"If the student wants to be beaten again by her teacher then, by all means, come at me" flexing my hand in a come at me motion I'm caught off guard as she leans back using her hands to spring her back up to her feet and at the same time I see her legs covered in the blue-white lines of her weapon forming another construct weapon onto her feet. With an almost shit-eating grin, she does a roundhouse kick sending a ball of energy from the now formed dust casters on her feet.

As the energy balls hit me they form a shell of ice at my feet, trapping me. "I have a few tricks up my sleeve" the now smug sounding bunny states as she pulls out a blue dust crystal from the weapon at her side.

"I can see that, but there is something you didn't account for." I smash my gauntlet into the ice at my feet to free myself before starting to slowly walk over to her. "I have a few of my own" I hold my arms out to the side with my palms facing down. Shadows begin to fall from them and pool at my feet before forming into a pair of wolf familiars. With a snap of my fingers, the wolves rush at her.

As the wolves get closer it's clear that she was caught off guard by the summons, her reaction simply a small squeak and closing her eyes as the wolves lunge at her. After a second she opens her eyes to realize that she wasn't dead but the wolves were simply looking up at her with their tongues out. "W-what?..."

A slow clapping cuts her off and causes both her and my own ears to perk up some as two people enter the room. "Well, my little bun bun I would say that you really got your ass handed to you in that fight." As we look over we see Coco coming closer to us, followed by a dark-skinned boy with dark orange hair as well as eyes that were whiter than an Atleasian snow day.

"Oh hush Coco...I was gonna have him!...at least on the next round anyway." she puffs out her cheeks in an attempt to pout her way out of the teasing that was coming her way by Coco.

A sudden rush of roses appear beside Coco and the dark-skinned boy as Ruby jumps up and down in front of her. "Oh, my gods! I thought I recognized you. You all are team CFVY, right? The winners of last year's vytal festival!" at the nod from Coco, Ruby rushes over to me with her eyes wide. "And your training THE Velvet scarlatina?! The huntress who fought with only her hands during the tournament and won the singles round thus resulting in the victory of her entire team!" With a squeal, she runs over to Velvet and begins to talk to her about how sorry she was for not realizing it was her earlier.

Raising her eyebrow the beret-wearing woman looks at me "is she a friend of yours? She's cute. I like her." the boy to her side sighs softly and facepalms before shaking his head. "Oh, this is Fox, by the way, the resident smartass of our team and an all-around bastard at times if he doesn't like ya" pushing him in my direction she walks over to try and save Velvet from the rabid fangirl.

The dark-skinned boy I now know as Fox gives me an appraising look before nodding "so you are the one she would not shut up about the other day. I'm surprised to say I approve of her choice of a teacher. Like my oh so kind leader stated, my name is Fox."

I go to speak before I feel a pull on the back of my shirt, turning around I am greeted by the sight of Ruby grinning up at me with a bright smile. "What?" as I ask her her grin turns shit-eating before she looks back at Coco who smirks softly and it was at this moment I realized I fell into a trap.

With all the innocence she could muster she asks me "why didn't you tell me you were dating a celebrity like Velvet?"

Feeling some heat rise to my cheeks I facepalm when Coco starts to laugh loudly as Ruby gives her a high five before she too laughs at me. Wiping the tears out of her eyes from under her shades Coco looks over at Velvet and laughs even harder "oh I really like this girl now."

* * *

After introductions were out of the way, the three members of team CFVY had to go on their way and Ruby needed to go find Yang. This led to me in the office of Ozpin where he was showing a replay of me training Velvet. Just as it finishes playing he leans forward on steepled hands "so it seems as if you already have a connection to this team, am I correct in saying this?"

With a nod from me, Ozpin smirks for a split second before allowing his face to return to the normal stoic look he's known for. This causes suspicion to begin to rise in me and being one to follow my gut I decide to ask him about it. "Is there something wrong with that? I did agree to train her before this" I motion my hand around the room "became a deal."

After a moment to take a sip of his coffee, he looks me up and down appraisingly before the smirk makes a comeback "well it is not a problem in the slightest, in fact, it cuts down on some work for me. This year we were implementing a new procedure regarding our teachers picking one team to train personally" at my curious look he lets his voice take on a teasing tone. "If you had read through the documents on your scroll then you would have known this already."

"About that, some things came up regarding another job of mine that I am...waiting to hear back from, i'll give you an update on that when I am told more."

"Ah yes about that, so how did it go with you meeting Roman. The fact you weren't followed back would lead one to believe that it went well."

With a sigh I shake my head, this man was beginning to get on my nerves with just how much he knows but the pay is much greater than any other job I've had before so I guess I'll stick with it for now. "Yes I and Roman came to a deal and I am currently waiting for a message from Neo to tell me what my first job will be for him." another thought enters my mind as I spoke. "Now just to reassure myself, since I'm paranoid, none of these crimes will be held against me right."

"Yes that is right, if you are caught I will handle the police personally, I have...connections as you would say" the playful glint that appears in his eyes just reassures the fact to me that Ozpin lives up to the rumor of him being a major troll to everyone. "Now let us get back on track as to why I called you here since you already are training one of the members of team CFVY how about you become their personal trainer."

"So you want me to train them and what, escort them on missions?" a nod from him is my answer. "I will do it on one condition, I get extra pay."

"You have a deal" he holds his hand out to shake mine, as he shakes my hand his aura pulses for a split second causing my own to flash up. As the mint green and dark purple lights fade away he simply chuckles softly to himself "hm it is as I thought"

My eyes narrow as I step back some "what did you do?"

With a dismissive wave of his hand, he laughs softly "oh nothing I only wanted to test for myself this so-called 'dark aura' I've heard about.

With a cautious glance at the headmaster, I turn to leave the room. "Alright then...is there anything else you need of me sir?" as he shakes his head I leave the office through the elevator and run right into a short rather portly man with a head of grey hair and a large grey mustache.

With a loud booming voice that causes my wolf ears to flatten he steps back before speaking "oh! Excuse me, young sir, I did not see you there, what with me being distracted and all. Oh good heavens you must be the new teacher we were told of, well jolly good that I ran into you now have a nice day" and just as quickly as he came, he left trying to run after a woman whose skirt was rather short for the business attire she had on.

"I can already tell, that man will cause me some heavy migraines in the future" I sigh to myself before attempting to make my way to my room. But it seemed interruptions would be normal for the day as a blonde woman steps in front of me to block my way. Looking down into the eyes of Glynda I step back as I notice some fury into her eyes. "May I help you?"

With a small scoff, she regards me with some disgust before simply stepping closer to me "Ozpin has directed me to show you the way to your classroom as well as give you a more informative guide to what your class will be… it's just like him to shove this all on me" mumbling the last bit she turns and motions for me to follow her. "Now your class will be set after the normal school hours given nature as being non-mandatory to graduate. And more so" she continued speaking almost non stop as we walked to the room that would serve as my classroom and honestly all I got out of her words is the fact that she needs to be laid. Her stress must be out of the roof for her to be this uptight and callous. After what felt like hours due to her talking we walk into a classroom.

Looking around it was clear that the room was for combat, the doorway and hall into the room being between two sets of bleachers that led to an arena in the center of the room. Behind the arena were locker rooms which seemed to not be separated into male or female, guess that the co-ed part of Beacon was true, wonder what this says about Ozpin if he set his school up this way. "Now do you have any questions?"

Just now realizing that Glynda had been speaking this entire time we were in the room I look at her and shake my head "not at the moment no if I think of any I'll be sure to let you know."

Looking at me with a glare she sighs before pulling out a rolled-up piece of paper to hand to me. "This is your...official...teaching license to keep displayed in case any inspectors come by to try and snoop around. As for how Ozpin got this made, I would like to know. But that is all I need to do, now good day to you" with one last glare she turns to leave but my next words stop her.

"So I take it you are not too keen on a criminal like me teaching here?"

"Yes as a matter of fact I do, in fact, if you step so much as an inch out of line I have been appointed to be the one to take care of the problem." turning to face me with rage in her eyes, she pulls out a riding crop from a magnetic sheath at her back and points it at me. "Do I make myself clear? Mr. Morgan.

Not wanting to seem weak as well as my own pride I allow my semblance to activate causing shadows to wrap around me "crystal clear" with a scoff she turns and exits the room stepping with fury no doubt going to rant to the headmaster. "Well that could have gone better but" I shrug while speaking aloud "it could have gone worse as well." As I start to make my way back to my room the interruptions continue as I feel a vibration from the pocket with my normal scroll, pulling it out I see a message from Neo.

_While Roman may have accepted you, he wants to test you as well. We have a job upcoming. I will let you know when it is time ;3 :)_

Pocketing the scroll I start to think about what the job could be as I make my way through the halls. After a few minutes of walking through the halls, I reach my room. After opening the door to the room a set of voices cause my ears to point straight up, listening in I sigh softly to myself as I realize who the voices belong to.

"Oh wow sis maybe the dorm rooms we get into will be this big. At least I hope they will. I'm still surprised that you were allowed in two years early. Huh, think it has anything to do with uncle Qrow and dad always doing missions for the headmaster?" the voice of Yang echos through loudly as she speaks to her sister.

"It doesn't matter to me! I'm just happy that I'm in here, and guess what Tyler said his class was available to anyone! Oh and and this morning when he was fighting Velvet. Yes, the Velvet from the team who won the tournament last year. He was just so cool and he-" her words cut off as I walk into the living room and clear my throat. With a nervous chuckle, she gets behind her sister in a rush of rose petals and peeks out from behind her "o-oh hey there Tyler fancy meeting you here in...your...room...yeahhh…"

Yang starts to laugh at her sister's expense "oh gods Rubes we need to work on your social skills if you're going to be a part of a team with three other strangers for the next four years."

"But I was hoping we would end up on a team or something" comes Ruby's mumbled response as she steps out from behind her sister.

"You know she is right little rose if you want to be a successful huntress you'll need to learn how to negotiate the terms of missions and your pay on said mission. Another important thing will be learning how to deal with the red tape if you are sent outside the kingdom to another kingdom" noticing a dull blank look on the little roses face I stop talking.

Yang pushes her on the side of her head, causing her to fall over and twitch softly on the floor "uh wolfy I think you broke her, good job" she squats down and begins to poke Ruby softly on the cheek "hello c'mon sis wake up it won't be that bad...I think"

"Well while she's down for the count mind telling me what you two are doing here?" I make my way to the chair that has quickly become my spot in the living room. Leaving her sister on the floor Yang sits on the couch before looking at me.

"Well, Ruby just could not stop being a little fangirl over the fact that your teaching here and how you beat one of the members of team CFVY oh and the fact and I quote 'his semblance is just the coolest I've ever seen'" the sound of an embarrassed groan coming from the floor catches our attention as Ruby hides her face. "Well that got her up, hey sis didn't you also say you're very curious about his-" roses fly into her face cutting her off as the little reaper appears covering Yang's mouth.

"Eheh that's enough sis, we do NOT need to tell everything now do we?" The pleading look in her eyes causes me to raise my eyebrow before I shrug and pull out my normal scroll to answer a text from it.

"Well, girls it seems as if your uncle is looking for you, he wants you two back in Patch before nightfall apparently" at the sister's groans I laugh softly to myself as I stand up and begin to make my way to the master bathroom. "I'll see you two another time"

* * *

A few hours later I find myself at the same warehouse from my first meeting with Roman and as I enter I find myself starting at Neopolitan who simply grins some as she starts to walk up to me. When she gets close to me her grin turns into a smirk before she shatters into glass causing me to look around for where she teleported off to. The sound of soft footsteps start coming from behind me, the sound was so soft that only a faunus with hearing like mine could hear it. Right before the footsteps reach me I turn and face the ice cream themed woman as she aims her parasol at me, a blade starting to come from the tip. With a smirk hidden behind the wolf mask, I reach out and slowly move the point of the blade down to the ground "if that was your test, then it was a weak one."

Puffing her cheeks out Neo starts to walk closer to me before smirking and kicking out to uppercut me with her foot which I catch right as it reaches my chest. "A little slow there aren't you?" truth be told if I did not activate my semblance to quicken my reflexes by having the shadows move my arm then I would not have caught her foot. The look of anger and surprisingly arousal she has catches me off guard enough for her to jump up with her other foot and kick me across the jaw making me drop the foot I held.

"Well well well my little psychotic midget, it seems you found someone who could potentially keep up the pace with you. And speaking of that person hello there my wolf masked associate." Roman comes into view from a darker part of the warehouse.

The girl beside me grins as she starts to skip over to Roman who starts to light a cigar as he motions for me to follow him. "Come on my fellow member of the criminal underground, you passed the test and now we need to take this party somewhere else."

Following the ginger outside the warehouse we get into a black limo that looked to be as expensive as a bullhead with all the modifications I could see on it. " where are we heading to?" I ask him with a tone of suspicion in my voice.

"Oh don't be so paranoid, we are going to the job site that is all. You and little Neo here are going to rob the joint and attempt to find something while you're at it. But enough spoilers wait until we are there to ask more." winking at me he laughs to himself before turning to look out the window.

After about an hour of driving in silence as well as constantly swatting Neo's hand away from my mask, we arrive outside what seemed to be an office building of sorts. From the looks of it, the place did not seem to be heavily guarded and could easily be robbed by even grunts. "What is this place?" I ask Roman as we get out of the limo.

"This right here looks like a normal office building right? Well, this is actually the headquarters of a rival gang of mine. I want you to go in there and steal something from the leader's office while Neo here keeps an eye on you. If you fail this you'll either be killed by the gang members or by Neo if she feels like it. Buuuut given your track record I am willing to bet this shall be easy" turning to me he hands me his scroll to look at.

"So that's all? Just this lighter." a flash of irritation crosses the man's face as he takes his scroll back.

"Not just any lighter. A lighter that was wrongfully stolen from me in a rigged poker match" at this the shortest of us doubles over in silent laughter before Roman thumps her hard on the back of the head. "Don't you laugh at me, you know I've had that lighter since I was just a lowly grunt."

Neo stands back up wiping a tear from her eye as she walks over to me and links her arm in mine before looking up with a playful and innocent look as if to say take good care of me.

With a sigh and a slap to his, forehead Roman shakes his head "so what is your plan of action? This gang isn't really the toughest so feel free to rough them up a bit to teach them a lesson.

I tilt my head before looking down at Neo "how about we just go in through the front door and see what happens?" The look of glee and anticipation proves I chose the right action to please the little psycho. "Alright then let's start this party"

"You're going in without a weapon?" Roman asks as he looks me up and down.

"Well I always have a weapon" reaching in my trench coat I activate my semblance and form a short dagger as I pull my hand out of the coat "my semblance is more versatile than just enhancing the dust"

"Well, I'll be damned, out of all the guesses as to what your semblance could do besides the dust enhancing thing I would never have guessed summoning...is that even summoning? Well carry on then I'll be here waiting on you two to return then"

With a nod from me, Neo and I walk down to the entrance of the faux office building and are quickly stopped by two guards who stop when they notice who exactly we are.

"W-wait that mask...that hair oh by the gods sound the ala-" the first guard's words are cut off as I pull my hand back with the dagger and throw it into his throat using the no-spin style of knife throwing. The second guard did not have time to scream as Neo's parasol blade poked through his chest. She turns to me with a wicked gleam in her eyes as she skips back over to me to link arms again as we walk inside the building.

As we walk inside we are quickly surrounded by a number of guards who all aim their weapons at us. I pull my arm from the little psycho and hold both arms up to which she follows suit. "Now now now take it easy, boys and girls, we aren't here to cause trouble… too much" the sound of glass shattering and the sensation of being teleported follow my words as Neo activates her semblance, putting us behind the group. Within a few seconds, the group was disposed of in various states. Some being unconscious and others forfeiting their life at the hands of Neo.

"Well that did not take any effort at all, also I thought you were supposed to stand back and let me do all the work?"

Swaying her hips as she walks over to me, she grins softly before shrugging as if to say I don't care this is fun.

"Well let us get this over with, the quicker the better huh?" With a small puff of her cheeks, Neo starts to follow me as we make our way up to the top of the office building looking for the gang leaders' office. After no less than thirty minutes we find the office with the leader inside it.

"W-why are you coming after me?!" the leader managed to get out when he wasn't stuttering from fear due to Neo's grin. Looking at the man it was clear he had used money to make his way up the criminal ladder to be able to run his own gang the only notable feature of him being the beginning of three red lines poking out from his right shirt sleeve as well as the elk horns on his head.

"Well my good faunus, you have something of our leaders. One lighter belonging to Roman torchwick that you so wrongfully cheated him out of in a game of poker." the leader's eyes light up with even more fear as Neo pulls on the handle of her parasol slowly revealing the stiletto style blade she kept hidden.

"W-wait this lighter you mean?!" he flicks out a lighter to me which I catch and look at. Noting the emblem of the face of s jack-o-lantern on it I nod before looking back at the faunus leader. "Yes this is the one, you're free to go" the man's eyes widen in surprise as he begins to run past us. Neo looks at me pouting as she slides her blade back into the parasol, slight anger on her face. "Oh don't worry it's not over" turning around I face the man and throw the dagger into his leg, the power causing it to sink in a few inches.

With a scream, the man falls to the ground writhing and throwing out every curse he could at me as I walk closer. "Oh, by the way, Roman sends his regards" pulling out the dagger from his leg slowly I kick him in the head to knock him out. "Now let's get out of here" I turn to Neo and am shocked to see the blush creeping onto her face as well as the look of lust on her face while she licks her lips at me. Well, it seems another of the rumors about her were true. As she starts to run towards me I start to run out of the building, using my semblance to increase my speed.

As we make it to where we left Roman he gets out of the limo in time to grab Neo right before she catches me "okay that's enough of your weird kink" he laughs softly as Neo attempts to break free of his grasp. "If you managed to get her this excited then I take it you succeded" his eyes light up with glee as I toss the lighter to him.

"So the rumors about her kink are true then, she gets off to the pain of others huh?" with a nod Roman lets Neo go who pants softly before attempting to get her normal composure back.

"Oh yeah she is a weird one, but I wouldn't have it any other way considering how much success she brings me." he pats Neo on the head before motioning for us to get into the limo. "Well my masked fellow, I do believe this will be the start of something beautiful don't you?" with a large grin he pulls out a small stack of lien credits before handing them to me.

Counting the amount I pocket the credits before nodding at Roman "if you pay this much for such an easy job then I will agree with you"

* * *

The rest of the ride was spent in silence before we got back to the warehouse where we first left. After parting ways I aim to make my way back to Beacon when the sound of a crow stops me, turning to the sound I see Qrow coming out from a side alley. For some reason, it seemed crows would follow him everywhere he went to the point I have begun to associate the sound with the arrival of the old drunkard. "So you got in good with the most wanted man in all of Remnant and you managed to take out a gang in the same night" he begins to clap slowly before taking a sip from his flask.

With a shrug, I look at the flask in his hand as he turns it upside down to see if any drops come out of it. "Well considering the purpose of this job is to do exactly as such, I figured I would get a head start on that. Plus the fact that Roman's pet psycho has taken a liking to me should show that even more."

Qrow laughs before pocketing his flask "I do not envy you on that one, rumor has it that psycho has some weird kinks and is more than willing to get what she wants from the one shes set her sights on." he walks over to me and hands me a stack of lien "Oz sends his thanks for clearing out that building by the way. It saves him from having to send some hunters there."

Nodding I slid the lien into my pocket before nodding at the man "so I take it you were watching as well and have already given a report to Ozpin?"

"Yup. I'll be keeping an eye on you for a week or so just to be sure you won't betray us. Nothing personal it's just business" at my shrug he walks closer to lean in and whisper softly "if you do betray us then he's given me full reign to do as I see fit, and between you and me I don't want to make me nieces sad at the death of their new friend."

Laughing softly I back up a step to look him in the eyes "the resident wannabee dominatrix Mrs. Glynda goodwitch has already made that threat today. Honestly, that woman needs someone in her pants to destress some" this causes the old drunk to bend over laughing loudly before he stands and puts a hand on my shoulder.

"I like this new you, less cold and brooding and more jovial. That little accident you had must have had an impact on you after all huh. Speaking of that, have you had a chance to look at the documents I gave you."

With a shake of my head and a soft sigh, I look up at the night sky "not yet, I was planning on doing it earlier but it was one interruption after the other, and well now we are here. So I will look over it when I get to my room. Is that all you came here for?"

"Yep that's all, go have fun with your bunny girlfriend" at the glare I give him he chuckles and shrugs "little Ruby has a massive imagination is all I'll say on that" with a small wave he turns to walk away as I make my way into Beacon thinking over his words, or rather the words he said were Ruby's. First Coco said it to tease Velvet and now others are attempting to tease me with it, this sudden change in my attitude could cause some problems.

_**LISTEN TO THE OTHERS AND MAKE THE PREY YOURS TO DO WITH AS YOU WISH**_

As usual, the voice of the shadows chimes in at the worst possible time, shaking its voice out of my head I make for my room. Entering the room I listened to see if anyone else was in the room. With a relieved sigh I make my way to the kitchen and look through the fridge. Noticing the bottle Ruby had shown me the other day I realize it was a bottle of Vacuoan whiskey "hm seems Ozpin treats his associates well if he's willing to spend this kind of lien on top-shelf whiskey" pouring myself a glass I walk into the master bedroom. Walking over to the bedside table I pull out the folder Qrow had given me to help sway me to accepting his offer or rather Ozpins offer. Taking a swig from the glass I open the folder to look over the contents.

The folder did not have much information on the girl besides a picture of her as well as some sightings of her around the kingdom. Looking at the picture the only noticeable feature of her being the mask she wore. The mask was a simple one that covered her face completely and the design of it being pure silver color with a simple black white line splitting the mask in two vertically. It was a simple design but an effective one at hiding her identity. Looking closer at the picture I see what seems to be blonde hair peeking out from the hood she used to cover the parts that the mask did not. "This narrows the search down greaaaatttllllyy" with a facepalm I drop the folder and finish off the drink before looking at the places she had been seen at. Many of them being places that other gangs would frequent to do business deals.

"Seems that I'll need to make a visit to these places as Pariah and see if I can get some information on this girl..if I'll even be able to with all of these side jobs I'm having to do." a knock at the door catches my attention before I slide the folder back into the table. "Hold on a second I'm on my way" I head to the door and open it just as the person begins to knock again. The sight of Velvet standing in the doorway causes me to raise an eyebrow as she pulls down her raised fist "can I help you?"

"Yes you can" she glares at me before pushing me into the room and closing the door behind us "I want a rematch right now!" she pushes a finger into my chest and looks up at me with irritation in her eyes.

"Right now?"

"Yes right now, I just know I will be able to beat you"

I look down at her and point to the clothes she was wearing, her clothes being a simple light brown nightgown and bunny house shoes "you want to fight wearing that?" her finger slowly pulls away from my chest as she looks down at her clothes.

"U-uh...eeekk" she squeaks and folds her ears over her face as she slowly backs up till her back is on the door. "Why didn't you say anything before you let me talk!"

Laughing I shake my head some as I start to head back into the kitchen and pour another glass of the whiskey before answering her "because someone forced herself into my room and all. I wonder if that is against the rules"

"Nope not at all, in fact, there really are no rules regarding teachers and students now that I think about it?" she tilts her head side to side cutely before she looks down shyly. "D-do you have anything I could wear back to my room? I….uh didn't think this through now did I"

"Well, I do...but" I take a sip of my drink before continuing "if I'm correct, Coco would never let you hear the end of it if you come back wearing my clothes" her eyes widen as pink begins to color her cheeks.

"You are right about that...oh no Velvs you've gotten yourself into something embarrassing again...this happens too much…" she pouts and walks into the living room "what can I do" she sits in the chair I normally sit in as she thinks. "Well she wasn't in the room yet I could get away with sneaking in...but ohhh Fox was asleep when I just up and stormed off"

"I agree you've gotten yourself into quite a hard situation haven't you" her eyes widen as I speak as if she had forgotten that I was there. "Well, you could always just leave in your night clothes and deal with anyone looking at you" my teasing tone causes her cheeks to grow red before she hides her face in her knees, causing her nightgown to ride up some revealing well-toned inner thighs. Quickly looking away I slug down the rest of the alcohol before looking back at her attempting to keep my eyes from wandering.

"Ugh I don't know what to do...can I just hide away here and worry about it tomorrow?" she groans out, her accent coming through thickly as she does.

"Well how about this, you can tell her you went to see Ruby and decided to stay the night or something like that"

She suddenly springs over to me in an almost rabbit-like leap as she wraps her arms around my neck "oh thank you thank you!..." her blush worsens before she backs away shyly.

"No problem little rabbit, c'mon I'll show you to the guest room"

"Oh wait! I forgot to ask you about something. Is it true about you becoming our personal teacher? Coco told us it was something that Ozpin had told her a little earlier today, before me and you trained"

I nod softly before answering "yes that's right, he offered me that position and I accepted it. This means that if you take my class as well combat will take up even more of your day than it already has right?"

She facepalms and groans loudly before I pat her on the back softly as we enter the guest room "well here we go, your room for the night little rabbit."

Still groaning she walks to the bed and plops into it as I close the door and head back into my own room for the night. "Just a few weeks ago I was traveling from kingdom to kingdom on missions. Now I'm a permanent resident at Beacon and am in charge of a team of students. This is going to take some getting used to…" sighing I get into bed and attempt to sleep.

* * *

The next morning I wake up to the smell of food being cooked causes me to hold my stomach as it growls "that smells...delicious" walking into the living room I hear a set of voices coming from the kitchen. Listening in I hear Velvet talking to someone, flexing my ears to the kitchen to listen better I realize it was Ruby.

"Thank you again, Ruby, for helping me with this...I don't think I could live down the teasing from Coco if she found out"

"Oh, it's no problem Velvet! I'm glad to help out such an awesome huntress such as you. I'm just surprised some of my clothes fit you as good as they did...although they are a little tight"

With a yawn, I walk into the kitchen scratching my head "what's the point of having a private dorm if everyone keeps on barging in without asking?... I really need to put the scroll lock on it" looking at the girls I see a blush start to form on both of their faces "what?"

Velvet puts her hands over Ruby's eyes and looks away with her blush increasing even more "y-your shirtless…"

"Huh? Is that what made you two blush?" shaking my head I allow shadows to cover me and form a simple black t-shirt

"Well, you can't just show a girl something like that and not expect her to blush!" Ruby pushes herself out from Velvets' hands and pouts as she and the bunny turn around to start cooking again.

I shrug and walk over to see what they are cooking "so were you two planning to wake me up to eat or where yall going to let me starve?" looking over their shoulders, which was easy considering how short they were, I see they were making a simple bacon and egg breakfast.

"Well, we should let him starve after he attempted to sully our pure maiden eyes shouldn't we Velvet?" Ruby turns to Velvet with a teasing smirk before sticking her tongue out at me. It seemed that Yang was rubbing off on her more every day.

With a cute pout on her face, the bunny nods and gives Ruby a high five before going back to cooking

"If this is going to be how the rest of the students are...I'm in for a rough time aren't I?"

The only response I got was a giggle from the two as I made my way to my usual chair. Sitting down I look over at the two and notice just how adorable Velvet looked in the clothes Ruby had brought her. A t-shirt depicting a cartoonish style nevermore clung tightly to her chest revealing some of the curves that she had as well as the tight pair of jeans she had on.

**YES LET YOUR DESIRES FLOW FREELY **

Telling the voice to shut up I shake my head and feel the heat rising to my cheeks from having stared at Velvet for too long. With a sigh, I look down and pull out my scroll to distract myself some. Reading through the news it seemed the Vale police department took credit for taking down the gang that Neo and I had cleared out last night. "Typical police...taking credit for others work"

Velvets ears twitch as I speak "what was that Tyler?"

"Oh, nothing just the police department being their usual self and taking credit on jobs they obviously did not do."

"Well, dad has said things like that before. Are the police really that useless?" Ruby asked in an innocent voice as she walks over and hands me a plate with Velvet following behind her.

"From even my own experience as just a first-year, I couldn't count how many times the police took credit for a few missions we went on"

Tilting her head Ruby looks at me to seek answers from me "shes right, the police in each kingdom can be like that. They get jealous of the hunters and huntresses which causes them to take credit to try and raise their standings in the eyes of the public. She opens her mouth in an oh shape then proceeds to start eating her breakfast

"Mmm, we did a good job Velvet! Thish ish tasty" Ruby attempts to say through a mouthful of food.

Taking a bite I nod and agree with what she attempted to say as we sit in companionable silence while we finish eating.

As we finish, I gather our plates and take them to the sink to begin washing them as Velvet walks up behind me with Ruby in tow "I and Ruby are going to go and meet up with Coco to help stick with my um..my little white lie" she chuckles nervously as if she was afraid her team leader would not believe her.

"Alright, then I guess I'll see you two later." as I speak my black scroll starts to ring, looking at it I read Ozpin's name "if Ozpin allows me to that is…" with a sigh I wave goodbye to the others as I walk into my bedroom to take the call. "Yes, sir, what is it you need of me?"

In a sly voice, Ozpin answers "if you would come to my office as soon as you can, we have a matter to discuss that requires your...skillset"

"Ah, I see, I'll be up momentarily" hanging up the scroll I sigh to myself before grabbing my gauntlet from the bedside table. Walking out the door I stop to set up the scroll lock on the door and decide to put in Ruby and Velvets scroll numbers into it to allow them to come in when they please. "Guess you're getting soft Tyler aren't you...well let's get to the headmasters' office"

A short walk later the elevator dings as it opens into the office of Ozpin and notice he wasn't alone. Standing in front of Ozpin's desk was a woman with long white hair tied up into a regal looking bun, as she turns to me I see she was wearing the uniform of a high ranking Atlas officer.

"Ah, Mr. Morgan I am glad you could make it so quickly." he gestures to the woman with one hand as he introduces her "this here is special operative Winter Schnee, you and she are to work together on a short mission"

Feeling irritation cause my wolf ears to splay out in an obvious show of my emotions I force them to return to normal before holding my hand out to Winter "it's a...pleasure to meet you" I manage to force myself through grit teeth. Something that caused Ozpins grin to grow even more, obviously knowing what he would cause setting up a faunus like me with a Schnee.


	7. Mission Start

_**a/n a little later than I had intended but here we go, another chapter. let me know if you are enjoying the story so far and if you have any comments be sure to leave them in a review. **_

* * *

**C****hapter Six: Mission start**

"Now with the introductions out of the way, we can get to the reason why I called you here, Mr. Morgan. The good general Ironwood has contacted me and it seems he requires some assistance with a mission inside the kingdom" leaning back in his chair he looks at me with his irritating smirk.

"May I ask what this mission is?"

"I'm glad that you asked Mr. Morgan, it would seem bandits from Mistral have made camp outside the kingdom's walls after making off with a shipment from Atlas. Now normally Atlas would handle this by themselves but the good general has asked me to send one of my associates to fix it so as to...bypass… the red tape of politics."

The woman beside me coughs softly and steps forward "if I may interrupt headmaster" she pauses for a second to allow Ozpin to motion for her to continue before she plugs her scroll into Ozpin's desk, allowing a map of the kingdom to appear. "Somewhere in this area", she points to a forest north of the kingdom causing the map to zoom into a detailed map of the forest. "Sources have led us to believe the bandits have made camp somewhere in this area."

Walking up to the map I interrupt her causing her eyes to narrow for a second in a scowl, something that causes some sense of satisfaction in my faunus heart. "Can I ask what sources you have? If my knowledge of kingdom politics is correct, then sending scouts to another kingdom without their knowledge violates...a few laws" this causes Ozpin to chuckle softly before he turns to Winter.

"He is correct in that Mr. Schnee, now I am curious as well as to what your sources are?"

With another scowl in my direction, she turns to the headmaster and straightens her posture before speaking "the cargo stolen has a tracking device in it that gave its last response in this forest"

"So if this information is correct, then you are not one hundred percent sure that your cargo is still in the area?" Ozpin leans forward on steepled hands as he addresses the Schnee.

"Yes..that is unfortunately correct"

With his signature smirk, Ozpin turns to me before speaking "and this is where you come in, someone who knows the criminal underground as well as you do."

With a sigh, I nod and glare at the headmaster "while you are right, what about my other job you have me on?"

"Oh I am sure that you will figure something out, you are resourceful after all"

Feeling my ears flick in anger I sigh and shake my head softly "since it seems I have no choice, then when are we heading out Schnee?" a flash of irritation in the woman's eyes causes my lips to tug upward some as I walk closer to her.

"We will leave by train in three days time, I suggest you plan for an extended trip as well as prepare your weapons for an unknown enemy force."

"Oh do not worry about that...Schnee" allowing my voice to take on a condescending tone as I say her last name, I smile as rage flashes for a second in her eyes.

As Winter opens her mouth to speak a comeback to my provocation, Ozpin coughs to get our attention. When we both turn to him and simultaneously glare at his smug expression as he stands to walk over to the window. "I have a feeling you two will get along well, now Mrs. Schnee if you would be so kind as to send over the mission briefing to me, I will pass it onto Mr. Morgan here. And if that is all, you two are dismissed."

"Yes sir that is all I have for you, the general sends his regards for accepting this." she bows and heads to the elevator. Sighing I follow behind her and get into the elevator but stay as far away from her as I could. The white-haired Schnee turns to me glaring "why must you people be so irritating!"

"And what do you mean by 'you people'?" I glare at her as I start to walk closer to her, my ears splaying out in pure anger at her words. The air starts to chill as my semblance activates on its own. "Could it be that the Schnee is showing her true colors as a faunus hater?" her eyes widen before she steps back.

"W-what no I meant mercenaries, not the faunus, I would never be that way especially to someone I'm going to have to be working with." at her words I step back and feel my ears perk up.

"Ah, I see...my apologies then…" I look down feeling an embarrassed heat rise to my cheeks at allowing my anger to control me the way it had.

With a sigh, she shakes her head and looks up at me "no it's quite alright, the sins of my father carry onto the backs of us Schnee children. This is not the first time a faunus I worked with has had tensions as you did. But back to my original statement. How can you mercenaries be so irritating"

With a slight chuckle, I look at her and shrug my shoulders "if I am being honest, it was due to you being a Schnee and the way your family has treated my kind. Although most mercenaries like me do hate high ranking officers like you." looking at her I feel a smile as she had a scowl on her face.

"I understand why you would be that way due to your faunus heritage. But hating a high ranking officer? This confuses me greatly." she looks at me and tilts her head slightly while attempting to keep her regal and militarian look.

"It is mostly due to how we mercenaries are treated as disposable by members of the military thus creating an inherent hatred of those in power" the elevator door dings and opens. "Well Schnee I take it I'll be meeting you in three days' at the train station?"

She straightens her back and puts her hands behind her back as she walks out the elevator "yes that is correct, three days' time we will meet up again. Do not be late." and with that, she walks away leaving me alone. Shaking my head with a sigh, I pull out my scroll to send a message to Neo asking to meet up with her or Roman to talk, after only a few seconds she responds with an address and a few winking emojis saying to meet her at the address because she has a job for me.

"This could be hazardous for my health...damn you Ozpin for this, I'll get you" a loud boisterous laugh comes from behind me as a hand pats me on the shoulder.

"Oh ho ho, my boy that's the spirit, you'll soon learn that good old Ozpin can be a right pain in the ass when he wants to be" turning around I see the short portly man from before who was chasing after a woman last time I saw him.

"Ah, so I'm not the only one then who feels this way?" the man then laughs before shaking his head and patting me roughly on the shoulder again.

"Oh no my dear faunus peer, almost every one of us teachers here at this pristine academy has had to do something that causes stress and all at the beck and call of the headmaster." he then grins widely before shaking my hand forcefully. "It is a pleasure to meet you again, Mr. Morgan I do apologize for the quick meeting we had last time...I was how do you say...distracted" with a light chuckle he scratches the back of his head.

"It is no problem. May I ask who that woman was that you were 'distracted' by?" at my words he looks around before leaning in to whisper lowly.

"My dear boy that would be professor Peach, she had just come back from a short mission and I, as a man of my stature just could not help but attempt to help a maiden relax after a mission."

With a raise of my eyebrow, I look down at the man questioningly "and how did that go for you?" suddenly the man sighs and shakes his head looking down.

"Alas, it would seem that my charm is not what it once was. It also did not help she hates others approaching her while she is in her combat outfit due to its more...scandalous nature of the short combat skirt she wears."

"I see, so may I ask your name?"

His previous attitude returns as he puffs his chest out striking a pose he no doubt thought was manly "my name is Peter Port, I am sure you have heard of me?"

Surprisingly I had heard of him, the name Peter Port was famous for being a huntsman of great renown due to his study into Grimm kind as well as his exploits in the faunus rights revolution fighting for the faunus kind. "Yes I have, and I must thank you for what you helped accomplish for my kind during the war." The faunus revolution had been one of the subjects my master had made me study when she taught me. At the thought of my master, a memory played through my mind.

Panting from the shock of using my aura as well as having just slaughtered my village due to the shadows taking me over, I lay on my back covered in blood. With a strangled cry, I attempt to sit up and look around at the village I had just killed, at the lives, I had just ended. Only to fall back down with a loud gasp. "E-everyone I-I'm so sorry...it made me do it. It-" my words fail me as tears start to sting my eyes.

**YOU DID WELL**

As I hear the voice again anger fills me giving the strength to yell out "leave me alone!" the voice chuckles in response to my order. Still feeling the anger I manage to roll myself over, the strain causing pain to ripple through my body and into my very soul.

The sounds of footsteps in front of me have my wolf ears weakly perk up as I slowly look up to the stranger approaching me. Due to the tears and dried blood in my eyes, the only thing I could tell about the stranger was the fact that the stranger was a woman. "Well if you insist on me leaving you alone, I guess I will '' the kind voice of the woman causes me to smile weakly before darkness takes me into unconsciousness. Sometime later I awaken and look around weakly and see I am in a large tent, the sterile antibiotic smell of medical supplies fills my nose.

"W-where am I?"

A small gasp and the sound of feet running over to me catch my attention, looking over I see the face of the woman who would be my mentor for the next few years of my life.

"Well I must be on my way now, it was good to meet you, my good sir" the words of the professor snap me back into reality in time to see him stretch his hand out to me, as I shake it he grins widely before starting to walk-off.

"It seems I got lost in my memories due to his ramblings...I wonder if it is a normal thing for those talking to him." shrugging I start to head to the address given to me by Neopolitan.

* * *

The address she had given me was for an apartment in the somewhat wealthier part of Vale, slipping into an alley beside the building I form my Pariah disguise and let Neo know that I had arrived.

_Okaaay come to a door in the back and wait for me there. _

It did not take long for the door to open, revealing Neo in a somewhat casual style. She wore a simple yet tight pink top with a picture of an ice cream bucket on it as well as a pair of pink shorts that stopped just halfway up her upper thighs. When she spots me, she walks over and pouts pointing to my outfit then to hers.

"What? Did you expect me to not come in my mask?" at my words she walks up and repeatedly punches me softly in the chest before attempting to reach up to grab my mask. As she reaches up, I step back causing her to pout softly before turning her back to me in a pouting manner.

As I chuckle she types something on her scroll before turning back to me to read what she had typed out.

_Yes, I totally did because who in their right mind would walk around the town in a mask and hood like that, and not to mention your sense of fashion is horrible._

"Well I happen to like this outfit, it does well in hiding my identity. Now, what is this job you talked about?" she sticks out her tongue before walking through the door, motioning for me to follow her. Walking through the door I see her walking up through a set of stairs that went up towards the top of the apartment building. We walk in silence, the only sound being the clack of my boots on the stairs as it seemed her steps were silent. After a few minutes, we stop in front of what looks like the door to an apartment, Neo pulls out her scroll and places it on the doorknob before walking in, holding the door open for me to enter.

Looking around at the apartment one would not think a psychotic killer lived in it as the decor of the room would fit someone like Ruby instead of Neo. Grimm plushies of varying sizes were scattered around the room as well as posters for different anime-styled shows were plastered on the walls. Neo looks at me and waves her hand around the room as if to ask what I think of it.

"It is very...interesting I'll give you that" taking that as an acceptable answer she begins to grin playfully before starting to skip to an open door on the opposite side of the room, which I assumed she used as a living room. Following her, I enter the room and am greeted by bundles of fabric on tables aligned along the walls all leading to a sewing machine that the ice cream themed girl was bent over, purposefully giving me a good look at her rear end. looking back at me she smirks before raising her ass up and wiggling it playfully at me, the tightness of her shorts allowing me to see she had no panty lines. Now, this took every ounce of my self-control to not react in any way. After a few seconds of attempting to tease me, she walks over to me and hands me a yellow dust crystal.

"W-what do you want me to do with this?" hoping she did not catch the quick stutter I take the crystal. Laughing and with a playful smirk, she puts one hand on her temple and the other pointing at the crystal, flexing her fingers as if attempting to send power into it. "Ah, you want me to make it stronger?" her jumping up and down in an excited manner tells me I got it right. With a shrug, I close my eyes and activate my semblance sending shadows into the crystal to turn it into a black crystal. This turned out to be a mistake on my part.

As I open my eyes I'm greeted with the sight of a hand about grabbing onto my mask, as my eyes widen under the mask I step back to attempt to get her hand away from me. As I step back my foot lands on a stray bolt of cloth which causes me to trip over, Neo landing on top of me with my mask in her hands. "Gods dammit...Did I fall for that one really? I'm losing my touch" with a sigh I glare up at Neo who is looking down at me with her eyes wide almost sparkling. "Are you happy now?"

A wide grin sprouts on her face as she leans down pressing her chest into my face as she does so, heat rising as she does. I may be a mercenary who's usually cold-hearted but I was a man gods dammit. As she presses herself harder onto me, I hear an almost inaudible gasp come from her as she pushes my hood down to look at my wolf ears. "Neo...as much as this position is nice" I mumble the last part softly before attempting to push her off "can you get off of me" as a response she proceeds to start rubbing my ears softly, this causes a small gasp to escape my lips due to my ears being even more sensitive to touch than other faunus. Neo pulls back and looks down at me with a wide playful grin. "Now please get off of me"

Tilting her head back and forth for a few seconds she shakes her head no then proceeds to press herself hard onto my crotch, grinding softly with a shit-eating grin on her face, the blush on my face and the sudden stiffness she felt only made her start to do it even more. Now at this point, there was a dilemma going on in my head as to what I could do on one hand I could let her continue and enjoy myself and on the other, I could stop her and save myself from the embarrassment of having such a small girl defeating me. In the end, my pride won out "I said get off" I push her off using my semblance to create shadow tendrils that hold her in place as I get up attempting to hide my embarrassment by putting the mask back on.

"Now I'll let you go if you can behave your-" my words are cut off as I look at her, or rather the expression of lust and temptation she wore. With a sigh, I start to release her slowly which causes her to fall down to her knees, and to gain a new expression this new expression causes a shiver to run down my spine. As she stands up with a wanting look in her eyes, I start to back up slowly "now Neo let's not be hasty here..how about we get back to the reason I came here.." as she starts to walk closer to me, I look at the door to see if I can escape. The sound of shattering glass and Neo appearing in front of the door dashes all hope of escape from my mind. The sound of the lock clicking causes any hope I had to be diminished.

"Come on Neo this isn't what I came here for remember? I needed to talk to Roman" the second Romans name left my lips, she pouts before bending over in a gloomy manner. She then proceeds to pull out her scroll and type out a message for me to read.

_Oh, you mood killer, why did you have to get a girl worked up like that only to make it all come crashing down by speaking his name!"_

With a sigh of relief, I shake my head and look back up at her "no one asked you to attempt to rape me either" having the decency to look sheepish she shrugs and looks around whistling soundlessly. Now that things have somewhat calmed down I try to think about what to do now that Neo has seen my true face, this could become problematic. Although from what I have seen the girl could be easily bought out. Walking over to her I pull my mask off again and look down at her, this causes her to tilt her head to the side as she looks at me as if to say _what_.

"Now what will it take for you to keep what I look like a secret, even from Roman?"

At this, she puts a finger to her chin before tilting her head side to side while she thinks. After a few seconds, she suddenly snaps her fingers before walking closer to me with a sly look on her face. "Well, tell me already" she then starts to reach up and attempt to reach my wolf ears, the height difference making her too short to reach them. After failing she steps back then makes a motion for me to bend over for her.

"Is this really all it'll take? To let you touch my ears again?" at her nod I sigh softly and bend over just enough for her to begin rubbing both of my ears, the sensation causing emotions in me that I would rather not let anyone know. After what seemed like hours but was just only a few moments, she steps back clapping with a wide grin on her face. "There, is that enough?"

Pulling out her scroll she types furiously before showing it to me

_For now, that will be enough, I will add that you will let me pet them whenever I want. Otherwise ~ I will tell roman in a heartbeat_

"Fine...it's what I get for messing up as I did, it seems I'm getting out of shape lately" with a sigh, I put my mask back on and look around for the crystal that was dropped when we fell back. Finding it under some fabric I hand it to her "now shall we get back to the original conversation? I need to let Roman know that I will be unavailable to work for him for a week or so, a...previous job I accepted before joining up with you two." hopefully the quick lie would work out I think to myself while Neo looks me up and down. She nods before typing on her scroll again

_That is fine, Roman is a pretty lenient boss after all. In fact, I rarely work. It's mostly just when he needs something done perfectly or needs to send a message. This will apply to you of course._

"This includes telling about my true semblance as well" she nods before turning around to unlock the door before walking out of it. With a sigh, I walk out behind her. As we get into the living room she turns to me and puts one hand on her mouth and silently giggles before pointing down at my crotch. The heat rises to my face again but I attempt to shrug it off by playing along.

"Oh come on now, you are not the only one turned on after all" with a smirk I point to the nose of the mask "I do have the nose of a wolf after all" her face suddenly turns as pink as her hair. It would seem that she lets her emotions show more outside of the job, which is something I find myself doing as well. With the blush on her face still apparent, I walk over and attempt to pat her on the head. As my hand touches her head she suddenly rushes in under my arm and grabs it, twisting me over her with ease. Landing on my back I look up at her smug face and know I fell into her trap. "Well fuck" was all I got out before she sprung her trap

With the smirk still on her face, she straddles me once more before leaning down to kiss the mask playfully. "You know, this is not how I expected this to go when I came to ask you about Roma-" right as I speak the name she rips the mask off and kisses me deeply before pulling back with a shit-eating grin. "It seems what they say about your weird kinks is true" I say in an attempt to keep my cool and not let my thoughts known. In response, she shrugs before looking down at me as if to say what am I going to do next. Unfortunately, it was at this moment the shadows spoke to me.

**YES LET THE URGES OUT, LET YOUR INSTINCTS LEAD THE WAY **

Well, this doesn't leave me much choice now does it, and what kind of person would I be if I let her mood drop a second time for the day. In the end, I decided to pull her down to me, our lips crashing together with a surprised near-silent gasp from her. Feeling her tongue start to press on my lips to seek entry, I open my mouth allowing our tongues to flick along each other as she starts to press her crotch harder onto my own. She pulls away just enough to look into my eyes for a moment before she leans down to bite into my neck, causing a small groan to come from my throat.

"Now you've messed up little Neo" she looks up confused at my words before her eyes widen as I flip us over with my ontop of her, pinning her hands above her head. Her mouth opens in a silent groan as I press my knee slightly into her crotch before biting onto her ear. Feeling her breaths start to increase I slowly press my knee harder into her crotch surprised at the wetness already starting to seep through her pants. Remembering her reaction to my shadows tying her up earlier I activate my semblance, causing her hands to be bound to the ground with a constructed rope. At this, her eyes gain a lustful look as she watches me stand up over her. "I take it this is appealing to you huh?" nodding quickly she starts to pant as I tighten the rope to dig into her hands enough for them to hurt just slightly. With a small chuckle to myself, I allow the constructed trench coat to fade away leaving me in just a white t-shirt and my jeans, I start to slowly pull my shirt off to tease her but am interrupted as the living room door opens up revealing Roman.

Whistling as he walks in looking at his scroll he calls out for Neo then looks up to see us. After a moment of silence, he tips his hat at me before turning around whistling as he walks out the door closing it. With a sigh I look down at Neo, her face now void of the lust it had just moments ago. "Well, another time then?" she looks at me and nods before holding one finger up as if to say wait here. The next second she is gone with the sound of shattering glass. After a moment the screams of Roman fill my ears before Neo walks back into the room from the front door with an all to sweet smile on her face. She walks over to me and pulls out her scroll, typing on it for a moment before showing it to me

_Two things, one he does not know who you are, he thought you were just a regular faunus so the secret is safe. And two, before you leave let me pet your ears again! _

Her usual series of emojis followed the second part of the text. With a reluctant sigh, I lean down and allow her to rub both of my ears. When she finishes I lean down and grab the mask to put it on but am stopped by Neo who shakes her head. "What do you mean no?" I ask with some curiosity, she responds by pointing to the door. It took a moment for me to get what she meant.

"Ah, I should leave looking normal in case he is still out there" with a happy clap and a nod she skips over to the door and opens it for me to walk out. Letting the mask fade away, I leave the apartment with Neo winking at me teasingly. With a shake of my head, I start heading down the stairs to leave the building. My goal for the rest of the day is to prepare myself for the upcoming mission with the Schnee as well as get information on the woman who attacked me.

* * *

Three days later I arrive at the scheduled meeting place ahead of time to wait for the Schnee, my faunus pride not allowing me to let her use any excuse to look down on me. It did not take long for the woman to show up, armed guards flanking behind her. Not being able to resist a good tease at her, I walk up and smirk playfully at her "what? Can't the princess go anywhere without her escorts?" the guards at her side raise their weapons at me to which I laugh at softly.

" At ease men, this is the man I am to take with me for the mission" the men at her side then get back into their normal stance as she looks up at me, irritation in her eyes. "I'll have you know this is only military protocol, nothing else. Especially not what you are implying" her eyes narrow into a glare as she goes to walk past me allowing me to fall in line beside her.

Adjusting the pack on my back, I resist laughing at her attempt of intimidation before shrugging at her "moving on then, how long is this train ride we are to take?"

She nods to the men beside her, who break away and turn to head back to the direction she had come from. She then turns to me and looks me up and down before answering me "we will ride in a specialized car for a day till we get to an S.D.C facility then proceed to make out way on foot to the mission area, now let us talk about this more on the train" and with that she walks off, leaving me alone.

"Someone has a stick up her ass it seems" sighing I adjust the pack on my back before following after her, no conversation being shared as we walked to a train that seemed more like an advertisement for the S.D.C than anything else. As Winter walks to a car at the back of the train, I look at it and notice it seems like a normal cargo car. This surprises me as winter opens a hidden door on the side of the car. "Hm interesting," I say as we enter the train car.

Inside of the car I look around with a raised eyebrow at how the inside of the car contrasted with the outside. While the outside seemed like just a normal cargo car, the inside was more akin to a miniature apartment. The front half of the car was dedicated to a small living room style area with a couch and holoscreen television, as well as a table that was clearly used as a mission briefing area judging by the ports on it, used for scrolls the back half, was split up into three areas consisting of a small cooking area, an area for sleeping and an area with walls that I assumed was for a bathroom.

"So it seems Atlas has some interesting tricks up their sleeve, I'll need to keep this in mind" at my words she looks at me with a raised eyebrow.

"And what do you mean by that, I was under the assumption that this would be a one-off mission"

Shrugging I walk over to the kitchen area and place the pack on my back onto the small dining table. "I've worked with Atlas before and after this, I'm sure to still have jobs if this teaching thing doesn't work out with Beacon" looking back at her I'm surprised at the look on her face. "What?"

"Did you do any official jobs for the military" her voice was more demanding than of someone asking a question.

"Due to the nature of such things, I cannot confirm nor deny any involvement in those things. Although I can say my codename was Shadow Wolf, for obvious reasons" I wiggle my wolf ears for emphasis.

Her eyes widen before she looks at me incredulously "YOU are Shadow Wolf? Someone as irritating and annoying as you, the one who helped stop the plot to assassinate a counselor" at my shrug she shakes her head. "I can't believe it.." she walks over to the couch in the living area and sits down on the couch shaking her head even more. "This is unbelievable, how is it that you of all people can be so...proper on a mission"

Laughing softly at her expense I look through the refrigerator to see what it had before answering her "Well I had an accident recently and it changed me some from what everyone else has said, as for how I act on missions. Well, you'll find me an almost completely different person on them." pulling out two bottles of water I walk over and hand her one before sitting on the opposite side of the couch from her.

Taking a deep breath she composes herself before taking the bottle from me "well that remains to be seen, now shall we talk more about our plan of action."

With a nod, I motion to the briefing table "do you have any more details on the area, the encampment they are staying at as well as what clan they are from?"

She walks over to the table and slots her scroll into it, pulling up a more detailed map of the area than before. Looking at it I noticed the style of the camp looked familiar to me. The camp had a large tent that was the size of an apartment and was surrounded by about a dozen smaller tents that could hold maybe three or for people inside of them. Next to the main tent was a cargo box with the Atlas sigil on it. "We have no idea which clan this crew belongs to but they were capable enough to steal from the Atlas military with ease so they must be one of the more well-known ones. But seeing as how they have not sported the usual colors of any of the major clans or shown the symbol of them, we have not been able to ascertain which clan."

"The only clan that I am knowledgeable on that works out of Mistral is the Branwen Tribe, and if this is their work then...we are in for a rough time."

"And how is it that you are familiar with them?" the Schnee scowls at me as if questioning me.

Meeting her gaze I simply shrug and zoom the map out to look at the surrounding area "in my work you meet all kinds of people and take on all kinds of jobs. Such is the life of a mercenary" my answer seemed to only irritate her as her scowl deepens, she sighs before returning to the map.

"Fair enough. This clan, whoever they belong to, picks one hell of a location to camp in, sneaking in will be near impossible" as we look over the map I come to the same conclusion as her. The camp was set in a large clearing with no trees or any other notable feature around it. This would make it difficult for anyone to sneak in due to no cover to hide behind.

"If that is the case our best bet will be to scout out guard rotations and find any gaps in their coverage, the gap between the woods and the camp is large, yes but if we focus on our aura enhancement we should be able to increase our speed enough to slip in."

She looks over at me and nods softly "yes that is what I had in mind as well, it seems you are smarter than you look"

Chuckling at the attempted jab I decide to play along with her "and for a member of the Schnee family, you aren't as dumb as one would figure. In fact, if you aren't as racist as the rest of your family then I would go so far as to say you may not be a member after all"

"The only member of my family that is like that would be my father" she spits out the last word in disgust before turning to me with some anger in her eyes "yes as a child I was like him due to his ways but I soon realized how horrible he was and how being racist is nothing but trouble." After a moment of silence, she composes herself before returning back to the map. It seems that her father is as much of a sore spot for her as it is for the faunus.

"Well if it's any consolation, us faunus hate that man as much as you do...now let's get back to the plan, how are we going to get the container out of the camp"

"We will not have to get the container out, just the cargo inside of it. The cargo is small enough for just one of us to handle. But I will be the one to carry it out."

"And you'll have me play distraction while you do so am I right?" she nods and pulls out her scroll from the table and pockets it. "Hm typical Atlas tactics, let the expendable merc do the dangerous part while the officer takes the credit." my voice had taken on a teasing tone at the last bit, my goal being to tease the Schnee and it worked.

"That is not the goal in the slightest!" she looks up at me with anger in her eyes once more, anger that quickly fades as she sees the grin on my face. With a scoff, she walks to the bathroom area with her chin held high in a pompous manner. "You would do well to learn some respect for someone in a higher position like myself, especially when hired on by them."

"Actually I was hired on by the headmaster of Beacon, not the general remember"

With another scoff at my attempts to irritate her, she proceeds to go into the bathroom area and close the door, the sounds of a shower running soon follow. With a chuckle to myself, I proceed to raid the kitchen area and begin to cook a simple meal with what was in the refrigerator. "Damn Atlas couldn't you give these things some better quality food, can't really work well with this...hm guess bacon and eggs it is" with a sigh I start to cook while Winter showered.

Thirty minutes later I sit down at the dining table and begin to eat as the shower door opens up revealing winter walking out in just a towel, and it was at this moment the voice decided to speak up.

**TAKE THE ICE QUEEN AND MAKE HER PAY FOR WHAT HER FAMILY HAS DONE TO YOUR KIND.**

Grumbling to myself softly I decide to attempt to tease the white-haired woman, which speaking of her hair it was down from its usual regal bun. This caused her to lose some of her usual aura and made her seem almost vulnerable. Whistling I catch her attention before speaking "well well well, has the Schnee decided to go against daddy and have fun with a faunus?"

Her eyes widen and she quickly runs back into the bathroom muttering something about forgetting I was there and old habits. Oh, boy this'll be fun, and who could blame me for wanting to tease her when her reactions were just so good. Walking up to the door I knock on it a couple of times.

"Hello anyone in there?" when no response came I simply laughed before walking back to the kitchen to continue eating. After a few moments the door opens again and this time Winter is in a more casual style of dress, her normal military outfit being replaced by a tight-fitting pair of designer jeans with a t-shirt that had the Schnee logo on the back of it.

"Speak nothing of what you saw! Or Gods help me I'll-"

I raise my hand up interrupting her "now now there is no need for that Schnee, it's common for huntsmen and huntresses to see each other naked. Why do you think the schools are co-ed after all.'' At this, she turns her chin up before walking over the sleeping area which consists of two sets of bunk beds. She reaches underneath one of the bottom bunks and pulls out a military-style bag with both the Schnee crest and the Atlesian logo. "So I take it you use this cargo box a lot."

She nods and pulls out a book from the bag before storing the bag back under the bunk. "Yes, this is my personal transport when going on missions where bullhead transport would be too easily noticed." She walks into the kitchen and notices the food I had cooked, her eyebrow raises as she regards me. "So someone as vulgar as you can cook? This is surprising"

Laughing I wink at her "well there are many surprises in store if you get to know me" at this she scoffs once more before taking a few pieces of bacon and walking to the couch with her book to begin reading. "You could at least say thank you for the food."

She stayed silent and just kept reading while she ate the bacon. This continued for a few hours, both of us staying silent occupying ourselves in different ways she would read her book while I texted Velvet, Ruby, and Yang to occupy my time. The sisters wanted me to spar with them when I got back and Velvet talked about ways to improve her weapon some more. The silence was broken when Winter snapped her book closed and proceeded to walk over to the bunk she had taken the bag out of.

"Now I assume you will not attempt to do anything while I sleep, will you? Your kind is notorious for that kind of thing"

Even knowing she meant mercenaries it still flared my anger to hear the words 'your kind' spoken in a derogatory manner. "Oh trust me, Schnee, if I wanted to do something we already would be doing it" I wink at her which causes her to scoff before she lies down into the bunk. Teasing the woman, while a bad way to start a partnership, was too fun not to. And the fact she was a Schnee had nothing to do with it, nothing at all. It did not take long for her to fall asleep, as evident by the soft breathing I could hear from her.

"Well guess I'll get some sleep as well, according to the map it will be closer to noon tomorrow when we arrive" stretching, I start walking to the bunk that is beside Winters. The attempt to sleep proved to be difficult as the voice kept rearing its head, saying things that I would rather not repeat. With a long sigh to myself, I attempt to ignore the voice to the best of my ability. After that failed I grumble to myself and get out of the bunk and sit on the couch, thinking of ways to get the voice to go away. It was at this moment I remembered words of my master from long ago.

A soft feminine voice fills my ears as I sit in a large field of flowers, the gentleness causing my mind to quiet some. "Now focus on a place you feel safe, focus on bringing the aura around you closer inside of you. Yes, just like that, now tell me what does it feel like?"

Doing as the woman said, I focus on bringing what she called aura closer to me. It felt like a cold cloak wrapping tightly around me, on the other hand, the center of the coat felt different as if it was an erratic insect buzzing around to get out. "I-it feels like a wave of cold on me, but it...it feels nice to me. Oh, and the middle of it is buzzing around."

With a low giggle, the woman rests her hand on my head, the action causing warmth to spread through me. The warmth, as well as me following her directions, causes the erratic feeling to slow down enough to where it disappeared almost entirely. "There you go my little wolfy, that is how you can calm yourself whenever you feel the need to" pouting at her nickname for me, I open my eyes and regard the woman who's taken me in and has been teaching me.

My master looked down at me, her bright pink hair was tied up in a messy bun that I could tell was hastily done to keep her hair out of her pink colored eyes. Freckles adorned her cheeks as well as a few on her arms. When she sees me looking at her, she stands up and takes a few steps back before spinning in a child-like manner which caused her brown plaid knee-length skirt to spin softly. She holds her hand out to me, as I take it she lifts me up with ease and pats me on the head again.

Groaning I pull my head away, my ears lowering in embarrassment "master you know I hate it when you do that!" I go to say more but a finger to my lip stops me.

"Nuh-uh nope do not call me master, call me by my name; Kalokairi"

"But I can't pronounce your name, it's weird" at this she puts a finger on her chin and tilts her head side to side as if thinking.

"Hmmmm call me Kairi then can you say that?" After a few tries of saying her name, I finally get it right to which she applauds me before taking my hand to lead me to a nearby spring.

Back in the present I play the memory back and focus on the technique she had taught me, this soon causes the air around me to chill slightly as I focus on my aura. As I bring my aura to rest and slowly bring it closer to my core, I hear a slight grumble from the bed Winter was in.

The grumbling increases as my aura flares up, the dark purple of it just bright enough to cast a dull purple light across the train car. At this moment the Schnee groans again and looks over at me, with a flash of irritation in her eyes she throws her pillow at me which I snatch out of the air.

"Haven't you heard of letting people sleep! Or of not making the air around you freezing" the white-haired woman sits up in the bunk causing her cover to fall off, this revealed something that I couldn't help but tease the woman about.

"Hm seems I made it too cold, in fact I know it's cold enough if your...friends...are standing at attention" smirking slyly I point to her chest. As she looks down she notices two small points protruding out of her shirt. With an embarrassed shriek, she pulls the cover back on her.

"You. Are. Insufferable do you know that?" with a glare she scoffs then points to me angrily "now what the hell are you doing at a time like this"

"I am meditating to help calm my mind as well as my semblance." Closing my eyes I once more focus on mediating and attempt to tune her out.

"What exactly is your semblance? All personal details regarding you are secret even from me." At this, I open one eye to regard her.

"Well, I guess I'll show you" activating my semblance I hold my hand out and form a small dagger in my hand that then elongates into a thin rapier before fading away into a wisp of shadows. "My semblance is the ability to manipulate shadows in any way I will even summon familiars with them"

"That is...interesting. I can see many uses that a semblance like that could bring-" her eyes widen quickly before returning to normal "wait did you say summoning?" When I nod the look on her face was a clear indication for me to show her. Standing up, I hold my hand out to the side with my palm facing upwards, shadows form in my hand in the shape of a small black butterfly that flies over to her and lands on her head before fading away.

"Yes, I can indeed summon, although they may not be as strong as the famous Schnee summons. That being said, my summons can do some damage."

She tilts her head looking me up and down before she begins walking over to me slowly. When she reaches me, she holds her hand out to me "well it seems that I have gained a slight bit of respect for you...against all odds"

With a small smirk, I grab her hand and shake it. Not being able to resist teasing her, I lean in and whisper "does the Schnee like a faunus after all?"

"You insufferable bastard!" she then pushes me away causing me to fall back onto the couch, in a flash the Schnee reaches under her bed then pulls out a cutlass style weapon and points it at me. "You are single-handedly the most irritating person I have ever worked with and we haven't even started the mission proper."

"Well, then I'll take that as a success. Faunus kind one, Schnees too many to count."

Her eyes narrow in anger as the cutlass in her hands shake some. "I. will. Ask. one. More. Time. Will you stop comparing me to my family, I am nothing like my father."

I hold my hands up in mock surrender "well if you insist, then I'll attempt to stop the teasing. Although it will difficult considering the years of hatred built up within us from birth at your family"

"You...are right" releasing a long sigh she lays her cutlass on her bed before sitting on the edge of it. "My family was not always the symbol of hatred towards the faunus, it is only due to my father we have become as such. That man has single-handedly ruined the once-proud Schnee name and has twisted it beyond what my grandfather had made it."

"Honestly the only thing I know of your family is the hatred and the way the faunus are treated in the mines run by your family company, blame it on my master as she was not the best teacher for education. She was an amazing fighter as well as a master of aura...but school topics she was a dunce.

"Interesting, that is the first genuine smile I have seen you wear" and it was true, I feel that my lips were curled up just enough to cause a slight smile.

"Well, the years spent with my master were possibly the best I had in this life so far."

"If she was able to teach you meditation then she must have been a great and caring teacher. The teachers my father had bought me were...less than ideal. Do not get me wrong I did learn plenty in terms of an education fit for a noble such as myself" she then stores her cutlass under the bed before laying back down.

"How interesting, the Schnee has more to her than just her family's money and a temper that rivals an Ursas." laughing at the glare she gave me, I proceed to attempt to sleep again.

* * *

The sounds of moving around woke me up the following morning, with a groan I open my eyes and look around. The first thing that caught my eyes was the sight of the Schnee doing some light workouts in the living room area of the train cart. Sitting up on the edge of the bed I watch her for a moment before getting up to head to the kitchen to find myself some food to eat.

"We will be at the destination in four hours' time. I suggest that when we do get there that you hide your faunus traits as we will be in an S.D.C owned trainyard." she gets up and stretches, a slight sheen of sweat on her exposed skin.

"I will do no such thing, Schnee if your people cannot behave themselves and attempt to be less than reputable at me then I will handle it on my own." it seems that more anger came from me than I intended as Winter turns to me with a slight scowl.

"Fine, but if anyone is hurt then you will pay for the damages on your own accord. Atlas will not cover anything." she then turns her head up in a prissy way before going to the bathroom to change into her normal military uniform.

"Well those terms I can work with"

The rest of the four hours was spent planning the route we would take as we made our way to the encampment. Soon enough the train begins to slow down as we enter the facility. When the train fully stops the sounds of machines cause my wolf ears to splay out in pain before I flatten them against my head to help with the sound.

"This car will be transported to the other side of the facility when it is stopped then you and I will make our way through the facility. And please, make yourself look the part of someone hired by Atlas. Under your bed, you will find a bag with more...official clothing.

With a shrug I walk over to the bunk I slept on and true to her word, there was a military-style bag underneath it with the Atlas insignia on it. As I open it I pull out what seemed to be a high ranking officer combat uniform. Not being happy about wearing the outfit, I sigh before walking to the bathroom to change into the uniform. The feeling of it was nothing compared to what my own uniforms felt like when I made them from the shadows. "Well, Schnee is this presentable enough for you?" I say as I walk out of the bathroom.

She walks over and looks me up and down with an appreciative look in her eyes. "Hmm, it seems even a mercenary can clean up nicely. You pass. Just barely though." the sounds of something attaching to the side of the car then the car starting to be lifted up cuts her off. She then explains that the car was now being put onto a truck that would be taken to an area of the facility that only certain individuals could enter. After a few minutes, we feel the truck stop and hear a knock on the train car.

"That was the signal that it is all clear for us to leave now." she then walks over to her bunk to pull out her weapon from underneath it. She then looks at me curiously "where is your weapon?"

Chuckling I walk over to the pack I had brought with me, unzipping it I pull out my gauntlet. Putting it on I smile softly at the comforting feeling the weapon brought when I wore it.

"Hmm, that is interesting, does it transform," the Schnee asks as she walks closer to inspect my weapon. Her eyes fall on the metal wrapping that went from the wrist of the gauntlet to the middle of my forearm.

"It does, but I am saving it for a rainy day. Now shall we get going?" At her nod, we leave the train car and begin to make our way through the facility with relative ease. It was only when we got to the entrance of the facility that we were stopped by what seemed to be the one running the facility.

"Ah, Mrs. Schnee, it is good to see you and your-" the man looks over at me and grimaces at my wolf ears "associate…"

The man goes to continue but a low growl from me silences him, Winter then looks over at me and sighs softly before regarding the man.

"Yes doctor what seems to be the problem, surely someone as high up the food chain such as yourself would have notified me earlier of any changes to this operation" her eyes narrow just enough for the man to get her intent.

"Y- yes it seems that there has been a change in the weather that could hinder your progress. A massive storm is set to come in tonight so why don't you and your associate here just stay here for the night and continue on your way tomorrow"

Winter scoffs before pushing her way past the man who simply shrinks away even as I walk past him. As I adjust the package on my back the woman sighs softly before shaking her head softly.

"I hate people like that, they attempt to try and worm their way into my good graces and that is exactly what that man would have done. First, he'd give us all he could then he'd invite me to his bedchamber to 'talk' and in his mind, he would court me to get in good with my father." she sighs once more before shaking her head again "I don't even know why I'm telling you this."

"Well if it's any consolation, I was about three seconds away from tearing the man's eyes from his head after the look he gave me."

She laughs slightly as we continued to make our way down the planned path. As we walked in companionable silence, the clouds began to darken and the scent of rain filled my nose.

"Schnee we may want to look for shelter soon"

She nods and pulls out her scroll to look at the map, after a few moments of looking at it she looks back up to me. "If we run, we will get to the woods in thirty minutes and after that, it seems like a cave is a short run into the woods"

"Well wolves love caves so this will be perfect"

"Your sense of humor leaves much to be desired. And from now on call me Queen as that is my codename. Do you understand Shadow Wolf?"

"Just call me Wolf then, Queenie" she sighs to herself then motions for us to begin running. It took us about forty minutes to find the cave and what we found did not fill us with hope. As we approached the cave it was clear the cave was a nest for Grimm, the ground surrounding it as well as the entrance were covered in black fur as well as scratch marks.

"Well Queenie this place is a bust, the stench of Grimm is strong even here. We could go through and clear the place but that would waste time and energy. Was there any other place on the map that could be used as a shelter?"

"No there was not, the only thing close was a denser part of the forest closer to the center, and that area is one the bandits seem to frequent so the probability of being spotted is high."

I grab the scroll she was using to look at the map and study it closer. "Hm I have and idea, you may not like it though with your high standards of living"

She raises an eyebrow at me "what do you mean?"

I toss the scroll back at her and motion for her to follow me. We make our way to a hill overlooking most of the forest including the camp that we were to attempt to infiltrate. Winter looks at the area then back to me and narrows her eyes some as the rain starts to sprinkle.

"Okay, now what about our shelter situation? I don't exactly see any up here?"

"Well not yet you don't, just give me a moment"

At my words, she sighs and watches me as I make way to the base of the hill where it was flat. Calming my mind I hold my hand out and activate my semblance, feeling the coldness of the shadows around me. I smile softly at the feeling. With the image in mind of what I wanted to create the shadows then form to my will. Shadows start to swirl in the air a few feet in front of me before making the shape of a tent that was big enough for two people. I then turn around and smirk softly at Winter.

"Well, Queenie, how do you feel about roughing it in a constructed tent?" I open the tent flap and make my way inside just as the rain starts pouring down.

"Again you are an insufferable man. Ugh make room" she then makes her way inside the tent as well. As she gets inside the tent flap seals itself shut with a motion from my hand. She looks at me and glares before starting to look at her scroll, bringing up the map as she does.

"Well mission leader, what shall be our next move?"

She then turns to me and smirks softly, an evil glint in her eyes. "Would you happen to have night vision?" at her words, I feel a sinking feeling in my stomach that my night was going to be interesting.

* * *

"If I smell like a wet dog after this, you will be the one who suffers from it Queenie" I speak into the comms device the woman had given me hours earlier.

"If you smell like a wet dog then I will kick you out of the tent while you sleep. Now radio silence until you get the information we need." the sound of the comms cutting off silences any responses I could give her.

"Yep, I'm totally going to kill the woman after this" I mumble to myself before continuing my track towards the camp in the rain that had now picked up to a thunderstorm. The plan Winter had concocted was to use my enhanced night vision to gain intel on the camp even though it would take me a few hours to run to the bandits camp from our camp. Slightly panting I now look out at the edge of the woods into the clearing where the bandits have based themselves. After catching my breath, I use the binoculars that I had packed to look over the camp. The sounds of wet footsteps catch my attention causing me to turn around in time to see someone looking around.

"Hello! Are you there Max?" the voice yelled out, its tone letting me know the voice belonged to a female. "Oh come on we need to get back or the boss will go nuts!"

Not wanting to let potential information slip by I proceed to sneak up to the woman and tap her on the shoulder. She jumps and turns around then her eyes widen as she regards me.

"Y-your not Max…"

"No, I'm not, where does this leave us, dearie?" she raises up a gun to attempt to shoot me, I grab her wrist and twist it hard enough for her to drop the gun. As she drops it I grab it out of the air and punch her hard with my right hand. The metal of the gauntlet vibrates hard as the hit connects, causing the woman to crumble down unconscious.

"Hm it doesn't leave us in a good spot does it" I attempt to connect to Winter and she picks up just a moment later.

"What part of radio silence do you not-"

"I have a bandit here knocked out, what do you want me to do with her?"

After a moment of silence, she responds "bring her here"


End file.
